Violent Offenders Research Articles

BackgroundSocial isolation has been identified as a risk factor in the lives of mass shooters, assassins, serial killers, child molesters, lone actor terrorists, suicide attackers, and other violent offenders, but its psychological and behavioral effects are only partially understood.MethodsFor this article, we tested for bivariate differences between public mass shooters who were and were not socially isolated in the United States from 2000 to 2024.ResultsCompared to other perpetrators, socially isolated mass shooters were significantly more likely to be unemployed, single, childless, and sexually frustrated; to have a mental health problem in general, autism specifically, prior psychiatric hospitalization, and a history of suicidality (unrelated to their attack intentions); to use substances, play violent video games, adopt prejudices, seek fame, and show interest in past mass violence; and to kill more victims.DiscussionBased on these findings and other research, we propose a new model for social isolation’s effects on mass shooters’ mental health and their coping mechanisms prior to attack. We also provide illustrative case examples and offer recommendations for future research.

Abstract Objective We examined whether the feeling of knowing the truth may facilitate the emergence of victims’ empathy for offenders in instances of victim-offender mediation that address violent and non-violent crimes. Methods We manipulated the perceived completeness/incompleteness of victims’ level of knowing the truth about an imagined/experienced crime and utilised a victim-offender mediation scenario design. In Studies 1 and 2, participants imagined experiencing either a violent crime or non-violent crime. In Study 3, we recruited real victims who had experienced either violent or non-violent crimes. Results In Studies 1 and 2, participants in the violent crime condition reported lower empathy, but the perception of complete truth (vs. incomplete) attenuated this effect. In Study 3, the perception of complete truth (vs. incomplete) manipulation caused victims of real crime to report greater empathy for offenders. Conclusions These findings highlight the importance of complete truth sharing in victim-offender mediation, especially for addressing violent crimes.

This study investigates the role of informal social support specifically peer instrumental support, familial instrumental support, and familial emotional support in influencing short-term employment outcomes among formerly incarcerated individuals. This study investigates how informal social support, specifically familial emotional support, familial instrumental support, and peer instrumental support, influences employment outcomes during the critical three-month post-release period. Using data from Wave 2 of the federally funded Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative (SVORI), logistic regression analyses were conducted on a sample of 1,122 adult participants (80% male, 20% female). Findings reveal that gender significantly predicts employment outcomes, with men being 61% more likely than women to secure employment within three months of release (OR = 1.61, p < 0.01). Peer instrumental support emerged as a significant positive predictor of employment (OR = 1.18, p < 0.05), although its effect did not vary by gender. In contrast, both familial instrumental support (OR = 1.08) and familial emotional support (OR = 0.83) were not significantly associated with employment outcomes, and gender did not moderate their effects. Education strongly influenced employment success, with individuals holding a high school diploma being nearly twice as likely to be employed (OR = 2.01, p < 0.01). Racial disparities were also evident, as black participants were significantly less likely than white participants to be employed (OR = 0.82, p < 0.1). Additionally, years incarcerated showed a small but significant positive association with employment (OR = 1.07, p < 0.05), contrary to commonly held expectations. These results suggest that peer networks may play a more critical role than family in facilitating early employment success among formerly incarcerated individuals. At the same time, structural inequalities particularly those related to gender, race and socioeconomic status (Lawanson et al.,2025) continue to shape reentry outcomes and merit focused attention from policymakers and reentry service providers.

Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by interpersonal, affective, behavioural, and antisocial characteristics. Notably, a lack of empathy and perceived deficits in emotion. As language is considered to be a habitual and reliable way in which emotion is expressed (Tausczik & Pennebaker, 2010), assessing emotional language use as a function of psychopathic traits can highlight differences in how emotion-related words are used by this population. In a sample of male incarcerated violent youth offenders assessed for psychopathy using the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (Forth et al., 2003), the frequency, intensity, and polarity of emotion-related words and disfluencies in speech were explored using linguistic analysis software SEANCE (Crossley et al., 2017). Using both dimensional and categorical conceptualizations of psychopathy, more psychopathic traits were significantly associated with an increased frequency of emotion-related language and a lower use of filled pauses in speech. Results are contrary to emotion-deficit hypotheses of psychopathy, warranting further exploration into the verbal expression of emotions as representing interpersonal processes versus affective deficits.

Based on ‘radical interactionism' (Athens, 2007) and narrative criminology (Presser & Sandberg, 2015), this contribution foregrounds violent offenders' ‘cosmology' – a notion directed at reassigning a meaning to (violent) human behaviour beyond any rigid and formal distinction between ‘normality' and psychic suffering. This concept helps to recognise and understand the symbolic and emotional dimensions that are accessed by social actors when they prepare and carry out a violent act. Drawing on the story of Stefania Albertani and using ‘transformative interviews', we aim to valorise the reflexive knowledge that emerges from the first-person narrative of the offender. In so doing, we advance an innovative theoretical proposal that aims at producing a form of transformative knowledge with the potential of problematising and re-orienting the public imagination around violent offenders and prison institutions.

This study explores the importance of personality traits in nonviolent offenders in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to developing targeted intervention approaches for their rehabilitation. 15 mental health professionals' opinions and data from 47 male offenders (32 of them nonviolent and 15 violent) in the Dubai correctional facility were gathered. The Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQR-S) was used to evaluate the key personality variables, and for the statistical analyses like chi as chi-square test, t-tests, and coefficients, PSPP and SPSS were used. The study found that there were notable differences in extroversion and psychoticism between violent and nonviolent offenders, with the former showing higher extroversion and lower psychoticism. Violent and non-violent criminals did not differ statistically significantly in their neuroticism scores; however, there is a strong association between criminal activity and certain personality traits. These results highlight the value of incorporating personality tests in rehabilitation programs. These results highlight the need to include personality testing in rehabilitation programs. To effectively manage and prevent recidivism, tailored interventions are recommended. One such intervention is cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), which addresses qualities such as neuroticism and psychoticism. To improve the validity and relevance of these results, longitudinal approaches and a range of demographics should be used in future studies.

Medicalizing violence: The institutional politics of trauma in Veterans Treatment Courts.

Negative correlation between level of self-reported antisocial personality disorder symptoms and neural responsiveness to looming threats.

A longitudinal examination of the impact of secure placement on violent offending among justice-involved youth: The moderating role of psychopathic personality traits.

Attachment-informed thinking presents a valuable framework for understanding and addressing interpersonal difficulties within forensic mental health settings. This article explores its theoretical foundations and emphasises the role of attachment insecurity in violent offending, patient engagement, and therapeutic alliances. While attachment theory has demonstrated relevance in forensic psychiatry since the theory's origins, there are a number of systemic barriers that hinder its application in forensic settings. These include gaps in staff knowledge and education, limitations in assessing attachment security in forensic settings, and the complexity of implementing and sustaining attachment-informed interventions. This article highlights the importance of relational security for staff and service users, arguing that attachment-informed approaches could enhance service delivery, satisfaction and recovery outcomes, and play a potential role in improving patient transitions within forensic settings. Furthermore, it examines strategies for addressing these challenges of implementation. Although attachment-informed thinking offers a promising theoretical framework, there are still systemic adaptations required to translate these insights to meaningful and valued clinical practice.

Supplemental Material for A Longitudinal Examination of the Impact of Secure Placement on Violent Offending Among Justice-Involved Youth: The Moderating Role of Psychopathic Personality Traits

This study explores the relationship between psychopathological traits and criminal behavior in a sample of 54 former male inmates living in a Portuguese reintegration community between 2020 and 2023. Using data from the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) and the Mini-Mult, alongside structured clinical risk and protective factors assessments (HCR-20 and SAPROF), we examined associations between psychological profiles, crime type (violent vs. non-violent), and reintegration outcomes. Descriptive and inferential analyses revealed distinct psychopathological profiles across violent and non-violent offenders, T-test results indicated significantly higher scores in the Antisocial and Narcissistic scales among individuals who committed violent crimes. While the Mini-Mult revealed some positive trends, the MCMI-IV demonstrated greater sensitivity in differentiating clinical profiles, related to violence and risk. Furthermore, individuals with greater psychopathological severity exhibited significantly higher HCR-20 scores (p = .006), indicating elevated risk of recidivism, while no significant association was found with protective factors (SAPROF). Psychological intervention duration was also predictive of positive outcomes: inmates who received therapy for more than one year were 3.4 times more likely to successfully reintegrate. Conversely, employment status and family support showed no statistically significant impact on reintegration. These findings underscore the relevance of clinical assessment tools for risk evaluation and highlight the importance of sustained psychological interventions in the rehabilitation process.

Abstract This article critically examines the relationship between self-esteem and criminal social identity in violent offenders, offering a novel rehabilitative framework within the Indian penal system. Despite global recognition of identity reformation as integral to offender rehabilitation, India has yet to integrate these psychological dimensions into correctional strategies. This research, conducted at Sabarmati Central Prison, Ahmedabad, applies structured therapeutic interventions to assess shifts in self-esteem and criminal social identity among 70 violent offenders, measured pre- and post-intervention. Criminal social identity reflects the internalization of criminality as a defining role, while self-esteem denotes an individual’s perceived legitimacy within social norms. The findings underscore the formative influence of environmental, familial and sociocultural factors, revealing a significant interplay between self-concept and criminal behaviour. Statistically significant improvements post-intervention demonstrate the potential for identity reconstruction as a rehabilitative tool. This analysis challenges punitive correctional models, advocating for evidence-based, human-centred interventions that prioritize psychological rehabilitation. By offering a culturally contextualized approach, this article contributes to contemporary debates on criminal justice reform, providing a blueprint for integrating psychological insights into correctional policy in India and beyond.

Intimate partner violence offenders may have a history of committing other offenses within and outside of the relationship context. This study used a police dataset of male and female offenders ( N = 1,189), and their offenses recorded as solved between 2009 and 2019. Hierarchical cluster analyses and K -means focused on diversity in offending through a person-centered approach, establishing six cluster solutions for males and four cluster solutions for females. Male typologies included “low-level offenders,” “escalating intimate partner violence offenders,” “anti-social offenders,” “increasingly prolific violent offenders,” “escalating prolific generalist offenders,” and lastly, “de-escalating prolific offenders.” Similar typologies were evident across the female cohort with a “low-level female offender” typology, a “low-level escalating anti-social” female offender typology, an “intimate partner violence and regulatory offense female offender,” and lastly, “prolific violent and anti-social female offender” typology. Male and female offender typologies varied significantly across several variables. Similarities were identified across gender and typologies, alongside similarities and differences based on the time period of offending (either pre-2013, 2013, or post-2013). The implications of this study involve increased understanding of how police administrative data can be used to identify differences across offending based on sex and offense types and tailor responses accordingly.

Abstract This study examines the unintended life-course consequences of being stopped by the police in England and Wales before age 14 using data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study (N = 9,159). We investigate the predictors of early police contact and their associations with outcomes such as self-reported offending behaviour, academic achievement, and mental health over 3 years. Violent offending, knife carrying, non-violent offending, gang membership, alcohol use and cannabis use are linked to higher likelihoods of police contact by age 14. Police stops at this age are associated with increased violent offending, reduced educational aspirations and outward-facing psychological responses, namely greater conduct problems and attentional difficulties, by age 17; and these associations persist after accounting for important variables such as ethnicity. These findings align with labelling, cumulative disadvantage, general strain theories and the stress process paradigm.

Abstract An established body of research demonstrates that antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) is associated with violent criminal offending and recidivism. However, questions remain regarding how ASPD is associated with different types of recidivism and the extent to which prison misconduct and visitation condition these relationships. This study evaluates these questions using longitudinal data from a large sample of released violent offenders (N = 45,063). Results from a series of accelerated failure time models reveal that ASPD is associated with faster time to reconviction for a new offense and technical violation. Prison visitation and misconduct condition the effect of ASPD for a technical violation whereby the relationship is strengthened at higher levels of visitation and misconduct. The effect of ASPD for reconviction for a new offense is positively moderated by prison misconduct but not visitation. The implications of the reported results for correctional policy and practice are discussed.

Empathy deficits are common among offenders, including those with sexual offenses. While empathy is not a major risk factor for sexual offending, it is linked to other risk factors like offense-supportive attitudes and hostility. Research often fails to differentiate between cognitive (understanding emotions) and affective (emotional resonance) empathy, hindering identification of specific empathy impairments in offenders. This study examines cognitive and affective empathy in Dutch males with sexual offenses (N = 33), violent offenses (N = 30), and the general population (N = 91). Using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and considering impulsivity as a covariate, the study found that sexual offenders had higher levels of both cognitive and affective empathy compared to violent offenders. However, only affective empathy differed significantly from the general population, with sexual offenders showing higher levels. The study suggests nuanced empathy deficits in sexual offenders, though self-reporting may have influenced results.

Youth violence—the deliberate use of physical force or harm by young people between the ages of 10 and 24 to intimidate or cause harm to others, both online and offline—is a critical public health issue in the United States. Yet, successfully predicting future violent offenders is a complex and challenging task, as the question of why some youths resort to extreme violence while others refrain from it—despite facing similar risk factors—remains widely debated. This article highlights both risk and protective factors of youth violence through a socio-ecological lens to offer a comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted factors driving youth violence in the United States. To understand the interconnectedness between individual factors and the broader environments in which individuals are embedded, we outline the risk and protective factors related to youth violence across five socio-ecological levels: (1) individual, (2) interpersonal, (3) neighborhood, (4) cultural, and (5) life course. Approaching youth violence from a holistic lens offers a greater opportunity to mitigate contributing factors and to address the deleterious impacts of this complex issue. Practice and research implications are discussed.

Intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) is a significant global public health issue, causing substantial physical, psychological, and sexual harm. Research on the neuropsychological aspects of IPVAW perpetrators, particularly executive cognitive functions, is limited. However, this area of study is critical due to the established link between executive functioning impairment and aggressive behavior. This study explores whether men convicted of IPVAW present different executive function performance compared to men convicted of other crimes and non-convicted men, while also distinguishing between generalist and specialist IPVAW offenders. The sample comprised 234 participants divided into five groups: 55 specialist IPVAW perpetrators, 33 generalist IPVAW perpetrators, 49 non-violent offenders, 33 violent offenders, and 64 non-offenders. Multivariate analysis of covariance analysis was carried out to explore differences between groups, controlling for drug use, loss of consciousness due to brain injury, and years of education. Results showed no differences among the groups in cognitive flexibility, decision-making, and inhibition, except for working memory. All convicted groups exhibited lower working memory performance compared to non-offenders, but no differences were found among the convicted groups. These findings suggest that while working memory may be a crucial factor in both violent and non-violent offenses, general executive deficits are not distinguishing features among different types of offenders. The study underscores the importance of focusing on working memory in interventions to mitigate criminal behavior and suggests further research to differentiate between IPVAW and other offenders to refine prevention and treatment strategies.

Criminal behavior poses a significant threat to social security and public health, with notable psychological differences between violent and non-violent offenders. However, current research lacks a systematic investigation into multidimensional psychological variables and their interactions. This study explored differences in key psychological variables and their interactions between violent and non-violent offenders using network analysis and Bayesian network modeling. Psychological assessments were conducted on 749 male incarcerated individuals (335 violent, 414 non-violent offenders), covering impulsivity, personality traits, mindfulness, reinforcement sensitivity, childhood trauma, moral disengagement, criminal cognition, and risk attitudes. Results indicated mindfulness significantly influenced neuroticism and openness in non-violent offenders but not in violent offenders. Reinforcement sensitivity had a stronger impact on neuroticism among violent offenders. Criminal cognition significantly affected risk-taking via moral disengagement, with different pathways between groups. In non-violent offenders, criminal cognition was negatively moderated by agreeableness and positively related to reinforcement sensitivity; these effects were absent in violent offenders. This study highlights distinct psychological pathways between offender types, suggesting mindfulness-based interventions for non-violent offenders and emotional regulation training for violent offenders, providing practical implications for correctional interventions.