Types Of Offenders Research Articles

Latent profile analysis of psychopathic traits among homicide, general violent, property, and white-collar offenders

PurposeThe aim of this study was to identify meaningful subtypes of psychopathic traits among prisoners. Another aim was to estimate the association between psychopathy class membership and type of offending (homicide, general violent, property, and white-collar offences). MethodsA systematically selected representative sample of 1126 adult male prisoners completed a personality-based self-report measure of psychopathy, the Psychopathic Personality Traits Scale (PPTS). ResultsLatent profile analysis revealed five distinct classes of psychopathic traits: a “high psychopathy group” (7.1%)”, a “moderate psychopathy group” (10.8%), a “high interpersonal manipulation group” (20.8%), a “moderate affective/cognitive responsiveness group” (16.8%), and a “low psychopathy group” (44.6%). Multinominal logistic regression showed that general violent offenders were most likely to belong in the high psychopathy group, whereas property and white-collar criminals were most likely to be the members of the high interpersonal manipulation group. ConclusionsFindings suggest that most inmates, even those detained in maximum and medium security units, do not meet the diagnostic criteria for psychopathy. The significance of the present findings is discussed in relation to past and future research as well as clinical practice.

Sexual Murderers: Sex Offender, Murderer, or Both?

Sexual murderers perpetrate homicide and rape/sexual abuse, but it is unclear whether they should primarily be considered homicide offenders, sexual offenders, or both. Most studies have merged together different types of non-homicidal sex offenders (NHSOs), neglecting to consider the potential differences between the nonviolent and violent sex offenders. Here, we suggest it is important to isolate those violent sex offenders who inflict severe physical injuries that could potentially lead to a lethal outcome. Therefore, the aim of the current study is to compare different measures of the criminal career on three groups of sex offenders: NHSOs, violent NHSOs, and sexual homicide offenders (SHOs) using data from 616 incarcerated male sex offenders in a Federal penitentiary in Canada. Interestingly, the group of sex offenders with the worst criminal career profile was not the SHOs, but the violent NHSOs. Violent NHSOs had the greatest number of prior convictions and the most varied and versatile criminal career. Therefore, we suggest that based on their criminal career, SHOs should be considered more as murderers than sex offenders. However, to fully answer this question, future studies should include a group of non-sexual homicide offenders.

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

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

Dating violence compared to other types of violence: similar offenders but different victims

The aim of this study was to characterize young dating violent offenders (DVO), and to compare them to the general population and to young offenders with violent crimes directed against other victims. We have used data from the Development of Aggressive Antisocial Behaviour Study, in all 262 young men, 18 to 25 years, convicted of violent crimes and imprisoned in the Western Region of the Swedish Prison and Probation Services. We found that young DVO offenders differed from the general population in all investigated areas; however, the group did not differ in comparisons to other young violent offenders. Our results highlight the antisocial aspects of dating violent crime being rooted in aggressive antisocial behaviour, lacking signs of any specific offender type characteristics, thus questioning the validity of crime specific treatment programs in prison for young offenders of dating violence.

TYPOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL OFFENDERS BASED UPON THE INTENSIVENESS AND STABILITY OF THE CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR

As a result of analysis of the general theoretical knowledge of the criminal personality and the empirical facts the author suggests the typology of people who commit ecological crimes. The article handles the author’s version of typological distribution of the environmental offenders based upon the intensiveness and stability of the criminal behavior. Three types of environmental offenders such as situational, conventional and professional along with several sub-types of them have been marked and described. The situational type includes individuals who are prone to committing an environmental offence under the influence of external factors or an unfavorable situation, being unable to find a legitimate way out of it. Immoral attitudes of persons of this type are insignificantly manifested. More relevant in the process of offence determination are the defects in the mechanism of social environment – personality interaction in a difficult situation, including because such a person is not prepared for it. The conventional type includes individuals who are characterized by significant deformation in the structure of social orientation. As compared to the previous category, the positive component is manifested to a much lesser extend, socio-psychological features of personality are unstable and contradictory. This type has low legal awareness, including in environmental area, lacks distinct limits between moral and immoral, between «the norm» and «the offence». The majority from this type are anti-social persons who have actually dropped out of the system of normal communications and who live in a parasitic manner for a long time. Some of them are engaged in vagrancy, there are also convicted persons, as well as alcohol and drug addicts. The «professional» type includes individuals who commit offences as if it is his/her trade and for whom such encroachments are a primary or secondary source of income. These persons commit ecological crimes as a logical component of their conventional manner of behavior and the crime stems from persistent anti-social attitudes and social views of these persons. Unlike other categories, persons classified into the ‘professional’ type, actively create a situation for committing a crime and are able, if necessary, to adjust a particular situation to their own benefit. Several sub-types of environmental offenders are also marked out, such as family, negligent, practitioner, legal, office and organizational sub-types. As it has been established, from among environmental offenders classified into the «professional» type, the most dangerous category are «office and organizational» offenders who by nature of their official duties should counteract criminal activities, but instead, contrary to public and state interests, they take charge of the illegal business. This type of offenders includes officers of the police, the State Security Service, the Prosecutor’s Office, the Boarder and Customs Service, forest inspection and fishery inspection authorities. It is noted that typological characteristics of persons committing ecological crimes have different levels of manifestation and may be combined in a different way. Therefore, it is possible to refer to significant variability of types in this category of persons, which allows supplementing the proposed typologies with new types and sub-types.

Adult-Perpetrated Animal Abuse: A Systematic Literature Review

Adults perpetrate the majority of animal abuse incidents yet clinicians are left with very little evidence base to advance/enhance their practice. The purpose of this systematic review is to synthesize and evaluate the current literature on adult-perpetrated animal abuse and to identify the etiological factors related to this type of offending. Twenty-three studies met the specific inclusion criteria but most importantly, they examined the characteristics of adult perpetrators of animal abuse. The findings from this review were demarcated by sample type: (1) Participants were the perpetrators of the animal abuse or held offense-supportive attitudes and (2) participants were victims of intimate partner violence reporting incidents of animal abuse perpetrated by their partner. From the perpetrator perspective, there were key developmental (i.e., maladaptive parenting strategies), behavioral (such as varied offending behaviors), and psychological (e.g., callousness, empathy deficits) factors highlighted in the literature. Finally, in the context of intimate partner violence, findings indicated that perpetrators abuse animals to control, coerce, intimidate, and/or manipulate their victims (this effect is moderated by the victims’ emotional attachment to their pet). This review inherently underlines treatment targets that could achieve greater clinical gains, but we also conclude that more empirical and theoretical work is needed in order to set an agenda that prioritizes future research and effective practice.

Sadism in sexual homicide offenders: identifying distinct groups

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate whether it is possible to identify different types of sadistic offenders within a sample of sexual homicide offenders (SHOs).Design/methodology/approachThe study addresses this research question through the use of two-step hierarchal cluster analysis and binary logistic regression utilizing a sample of 350 cases of sexual homicide from Canada.FindingsResults from cluster analysis show that three groups emerge: a non-sadistic group, a mixed group that show evidence of some sadistic behavior and a sadistic group that have high levels of sadistic behavior. Additionally, the sadistic cluster was more likely to destroy or remove evidence at the crime scene than the mixed and non-sadistic cluster and was more likely to leave the victim’s body at a deserted location than the non-sadistic cluster.Originality/valueThis is the first study to examine the dimensionality of sadism within a sample of SHOs.

EXPLAINING THE GENDER GAP IN CRIME: THE ROLE OF HEART RATE

Although it is well established that males engage in more crime compared with females, little is known about what accounts for the gender gap. Few studies have been aimed at empirically examining mediators of the gender–crime relationship in a longitudinal context. In this study, we test the hypothesis that a low resting heart rate partly mediates the relationship between gender and crime. In a sample of 894 participants, the resting heart rate at 11 years of age was examined alongside self‐reported and official conviction records for overall criminal offending, violence, serious violence, and drug‐related crime at 23 years of age. A low resting heart rate partially mediated the relationship between gender and all types of adult criminal offending, including violent and nonviolent crime. The mediation effects were significant after controlling for body mass index, race, social adversity, and activity level. Resting heart rate accounted for 5.4 percent to 17.1 percent of the gender difference in crime. This study is the first to produce results documenting that lower heart rates in males partly explain their higher levels of offending. Our findings complement traditional theoretical accounts of the gender gap and have implications for the advancement of integrative criminological theory.

Personality type of homicide offenders based on psychiatrist expert reviews

Despite the relatively prudent regulations and dissuasive punishments worldwide, the number of homicide offenses are not decreasing. In my study those psychiatrist expert opinions were reviewed, which were created in closed homicide cases in the institute of forensic medicine of Debrecen over five years from 2007.The subject of my study was that what kinds of personalities these crime offenders have, and whether they were in a pathological mental state while committing the crime. The majority of the offenders were from the most active age group between 20 and 40, for the victims, however, the opposite can be said, as the most common homicide acts were committed against the older age group, because due to their age they are less able to defend themselves than the truly active age group. Out of 25 committers, 9 had psychiatric treatment in its antecedents – mostly suicidal intentions or attempts, alcohol dependence or depressive episode. Among the cases examined, antisocial personality disorder was only made probable in 42% of the perpetrators; however, it was not qualified as restrictive factor in neither case.43.5% of the offenders were under the influence of alcohol at the time of committing the act, and 58.3% had no criminal record before.The public believes about the homicide offenders that only people with abnormal mental condition can commit them – however, based on the reviewed psychiatrist expert opinions, the limitation of imputation ability can rarely be established professionally. Milder or more severe limiting factor were established in only 12% of the offenders.Disclosure of interestThe author has not supplied his declaration of competing interest.

Male Sexual Interest In and Offending Against Children: The Abused-Abuser Hypothesis

ABSTRACTAn association between experiences of sexual abuse in one’s childhood (ECSA), and sexual offending against children in adult age has been established in several studies. The aim of the present study was to further elucidate this link. First, we explored whether ECSA predicted different types of adult sexual offending against children hands-on, child pornography offenders, and perpetrators with both types of offenses( = mixed offenders). Mixed offenders reported more ECSA than child sexual abuse offenders (CSA) and child pornography offenders (CP). Furthermore, the aim was to explore whether ECSA and childhood maltreatment were risk factors for adult sexual interest in minors. Emotional abuse was associated with sexual interest in below-16-year-olds. However, we did not find an additive effect of having experienced several forms of abuse in childhood on adult sexual interest in below-16-year-olds.

Les expériences d’adversité chez les auteurs d’infractions à caractère sexuel

Research has suggested that children who experience violence and sexual abuse are at risk for inappropriate behavior, including repeating the violence and sexual abuse as adults. Many theories posit that sexual victimization in childhood plays an important role in later sexual offending against children and studies generally find an association between childhood sexual abuse and sexual offending against children. The most prominent hypothesis about offenses against children is the “sexually abused – sexual abuser”. This hypothesis predicts that individuals victimized in childhood will perpetrate sexual abuse upon child victims in the future. This research's objective was to assess the childhood experience of care and abuse among sex offenders (sexual assault on children, adult or the both) in comparison to non-sex offenders in a forensic population (n=99). These experiences are evaluated with the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse (CECA), based on a semi-structured interview. The CECA evaluates the chronology, duration, and the intensity (no, low, moderate, high) of the different types of adversity (antipathy, neglect, parental violence, sexual, physical or psychological abuse). The aim is to identify the different adversities and types of care experienced by sex offenders, by type of type of sex offenders in comparison to non-sex offenders. The results are: non-sex offenders present fewer sexual abuses than AICS with young extrafamilial victims and AICS with children and adult victims. However, the severity of the abuse does not vary between the groups compared to neglect, physical abuse and parental violence. These three types of adversity are usually with a marked severity among non-sex offenders. The AICS showed less marked severities.

The impact of parental offending on offspring aggression in early childhood: a population-based record linkage study.

To examine the impact of parental criminal offending, both paternal and maternal, on offspring aggression at age 5 years, while also considering key risk factors, including parental mental illness, child's sex, and socioeconomic disadvantage. The sample comprised 69,116 children, with linked parental information, from the New South Wales Child Development Study, a population-based multi-agency, multi-generational record linkage study that combines information from a teacher-reported cross-sectional survey of early childhood development at age 5 years (the 2009 Australian Early Development Census; AEDC) with data obtained via administrative records from multiple sources (e.g., health, crime, education, and welfare). Hierarchical logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine the effects of maternal and paternal criminal court appearances (frequency and type of offending), and mental health service contacts, on offspring aggression measured in the AEDC. Having a parent with a history of offending was significantly associated with high levels of offspring aggression in early childhood. The strength of association was greatest when parents were involved in frequent (≥6 offences: adjusted odds ratio [aOR] range = 1.55-1.73) and violent (aOR range = 1.49-1.63) offending. Both maternal and paternal offending remained significant predictors of offspring aggression after accounting for parental mental illness, and associations were similar in magnitude for maternal and paternal offending histories. Parental history of severe criminal offending increased the risk of high levels of aggression in offspring during early childhood, highlighting the need for intervention with families during this key developmental period.

Armed burglary: a marker for extreme instrumental violence

PurposeMost burglaries are property offenses yet some offenders perpetrate burglary for the purpose of violent instrumental crimes. Sexual burglars are distinct from non-sexual burglars because the former seek to rape or sexually abuse victims within the homes they burgle whereas the latter seek theft and material gain. It is unclear to what degree burglars who are armed with firearms or knives represent a type of sexual burglar, or perhaps a more severe type of offender who enters homes not merely to rape a victim, but to perhaps murder them as well. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on data from 790 felons in Florida, t-test and negative binomial regression models were used to compare armed burglars to offenders who were not convicted of armed burglary.FindingsCompared to offenders not convicted of armed burglary, armed burglars were involved in significantly more instrumental crimes of violence including first-degree murder, kidnapping, armed rape, armed robbery and assault with intent to murder. Armed burglary may be a marker of extreme instrumental violent offending and warrants further study.Originality/valueTo the authors’ knowledge, this is among the first studies of armed burglary offenders and adds understanding to the heterogeneity of burglary offenders and their criminal careers.

Psychosocial Correlates of Attitudes Toward Male Sexual Violence in a Sample of Financial Crime, Property Crime, General Violent, and Homicide Offenders.

Although those currently serving prison sentences for sexual violence can be identified and receive treatment, the number of prisoners with a history of sexual violence against female partners is unknown. Methods to identify prisoners with a proclivity for such violence and accurately assess the risk they pose before and after incarceration are therefore required. Here, we aimed to assess the level of sexually violent attitudes within dating relationships and to examine their associations with experiences of child abuse and neglect (CAN), psychopathic personality traits, prisonization, number of incarcerations, age, years of schooling, relationship status, and parenting among different types of offenders (financial crime, property crime, general violent, and homicide offenders). Data were collected among a large systematically selected sample of adult male inmates ( N = 1,123). We demonstrated that sexual violence-supportive attitudes appear to be a function of child sexual abuse and psychopathic personality traits, and may be developed through early socialization experiences as well as incarceration. Practical implications of current findings are discussed.

Exploring the Overlap Between Sexual Victimization and Offending Among Young Women Across Neighborhoods: Does the Type of Force and Type of Offending Matter?

The relationship between victimization and subsequent maladaptive behaviors such as offending is well established. To a lesser degree, a contextual lens has been used to examine how neighborhood characteristics influence the overlap between victimization and offending. The existing literature has yet to explore how the neighborhood context moderates the victim-offender overlap among young women, specifically, or whether the type of force used during sexual victimization or offending matters. This study uses data from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) to examine whether concentrated disadvantage moderates the impact of sexual victimization on subsequent offending for women. Results indicate that young women who experience sexual victimization are more likely to engage in general offending regardless of neighborhood type. However, closer examination reveals that, when taking into account the type of force used in sexual victimization (physical or coerced) and the type of offending (violent, property, drug use), the overlap does indeed vary across neighborhoods. Specifically, results indicate that only coerced sexual victimization significantly affects property offending in neighborhoods with high levels of concentrated disadvantage. Related to violent offending, physical sexual victimization has a strong positive impact in less disadvantaged neighborhoods. Finally, coerced sexual victimization is significantly associated with an increased likelihood for drug use, and this relationship is consistent across neighborhoods. The findings suggest that nuances in the nature of victimization and offending need to be taken into account to fully understand the victim-offender overlap across neighborhood context.

Impact of Offenses in Alternative Sentences

Alternative sentences prevent violence and help the community. Prison is known as a place where people are confined and restricted from personal freedom. There are a lot of crime categories where exists different type of offenders, but on the other hand there are a lot of solutions for each of them .Imprisonment is not always the only way to punish an offender. As alternative sentences we can list some of them: a suspended sentence, probation, fines, restitution, community service and deferred adjudication/pretrial diversion. Alternative sentences can be different based on the type and harshness of the crime, the effect of the crime on the victims, the age of the defendant, the defendants criminal history and the defendants remorse. This is decided by the judge, court. Below we will explain some different types of alternative sentences in more details.

Remorse in Context(s)

The presence or absence of ‘signs of remorse’ is often understood to have consequences for judges’ sentencing decisions. However, these findings raise the questions, first, how ‘remorse’ is communicated and demonstrated by defendants within court settings, and second, whether remorse plays a uniform role across and between various offence and offender types. Drawing on ethnographic data gathered in a Dutch criminal court, we contextualize remorse to answer these questions. First, we demonstrate that the performance of remorse has to strike a fine balance between potentially competing legal and moral narrative demands. Second, we identify three different typified ‘whole-case narratives’, within which defendants’ performances of remorse assume differential levels of importance. In doing so, we seek to complicate binary portrayals of the role and consequences of remorse, arguing for a more holistic and narrative understanding of sentencing practices.

The Voices of Young Sexual Offenders in Norway: A Qualitative Study

Adolescents commit around 20 - 30 percent of all sexual offences and attempts have been made in the literature to distinguish between types of young sexual offenders. This study describes the understanding of nine Norwegian young male sexual offenders regarding sexual offences committed by them during adolescence, their childhood experiences and their suggestions on how to prevent juvenile sexual offending. The participants were interviewed with individual, semi-structured interviews and the rich data were analyzed with systematic text condensation. The young offenders’ understanding of mutuality in the relationship with their minor victim contributed to the sexual offence. Moreover, moral immaturity, learning difficulties or being a refugee, exposure to child pornography, impulsivity and high sexual arousal were described as having impacted on their offending. Findings suggest the need for further studies to understand the risk factors for juvenile sexual offending. Better knowledge about the legal framework of a sexual relationship and consequences of sexual abuse for both offenders and victims were highlighted to be the most important measure to prevent sexual abuse by juveniles in general.

U.S. State Ignition Interlock Laws for Alcohol Impaired Driving Prevention: A 50 State Survey and Analysis

Objectives:Over the past two decades, all U.S. states have incorporated alcohol ignition interlock technology into sentencing laws for individuals convicted of driving while intoxicated (DWI). This article provides the first 50-state summary of these laws to include changes in the laws over time and their effective dates. This information is critical for policy makers to make informed decisions and for researchers to conduct quantitative evaluation of the laws.Methods:Standard legal research and legislative history techniques were used, including full-text searches in the Westlaw legal database and identification of state session laws. Because ignition interlock device (IID) laws often change over time, we identified the date of each law's initial enactment as well as the effective date of each law in its current form.Results:Beginning with California and Washington in 1987, all 50 states have enacted IID laws as a sentencing option for DWI offenders. Initially, most of these laws were discretionary. Today, however, 48 states mandate IID installation for at least some types of DWI offenders to maintain lawful driving privileges. Of these, 27 mandate an IID for all offenders; seven mandate an IID for repeat offenders only; and 21 for some combination of specific groups of DWI offenders, including repeat offenders, offenders with a blood alcohol content above a legislatively-specified level, and aggravated offenders (including those who harm someone else or who are convicted of a DWI with a child in the vehicle).Conclusion:States have wrestled with a number of IID policy issues, including for whom to mandate IIDs and whether to suspend a license for DWI prior to reinstating driving privileges with or without an IID. By understanding how state interlock laws differ, policy makers and researchers can ultimately better ascertain the impact of these laws.

Characteristics of Brazilian Offenders and Victims of Interpersonal Violence: An Exploratory Study.

The aim of this study was to characterize the profile of Brazilian offenders and victims of interpersonal violence, following a medicolegal and forensic perspective. A cross-sectional and exploratory study was performed in a Center of Forensic Medicine and Dentistry. The sample was made up of 1,704 victims of nonlethal interpersonal violence with some type of trauma. The victims were subject to forensic examinations by a criminal investigative team that identified and recorded the extent of the injuries. For data collection, a specific form was designed consisting of four parts according to the information provided in the medicolegal and social records: sociodemographic data of the victims, offender's characteristics, aggression characteristics, and types of injuries. Descriptive and multivariate statistics using cluster analysis (CA) were performed. The two-step cluster method was used to characterize the profile of the victims and offenders. Most of the events occurred during the nighttime (50.9%) and on weekdays (66.3%). Soft tissue injuries were the most prevalent type (94.6%). Based on the CA results, two clusters for the victims and two for the offenders were identified. Victims: Cluster 1 was formed typically by women, aged 30 to 59 years, and married; Cluster 2 was composed of men, aged 20 to 29 years, and unmarried. Offenders: Cluster 1 was characterized by men, who perpetrated violence in a community environment. Cluster 2 was formed by men, who perpetrated violence in the familiar environment. These findings revealed different risk groups with distinct characteristics for both victims and offenders, allowing the planning of targeted measures of care, prevention, and health promotion. This study assesses the profile of violence through morbidity data and significantly contributes to building an integrated system of health surveillance in Brazil, as well as linking police stations, forensic services, and emergency hospitals.