Preliminary Study of Testosterone and Empathy in Determining Recidivism and Antisocial Behavior

Recidivism, repeated criminal behavior after conviction and correction of prior offenses, is a costly problem across the nation. However, the contribution of empathy in determining the risk of recidivism has received limited attention, although lack of empathy has been related to antisocial personality disorder in various studies. Studies linked testosterone to aggression, antisocial behavior, and criminality, and evidence support hormonal connections between empathy and aggression. Adult male prison inmates convicted of violent or nonviolent offenses were included in a cross‐sectional study of empathy, antisocial behavior, salivary testosterone, and recidivism. Subjects underwent criminal history, Empathy Quotient, Levenson Self‐Report Psychopathy Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, Spielberger State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory, and salivary testosterone assays. Bivariate analyses indicated multiple correlations between variables. Multivariate modeling analyses found a significant relationship between self‐reported conviction number and psychopathy scale score (p = 0.013). These preliminary results suggest avenues of investigation of factors contributing to recidivism risk.     

颅脑损伤部位及程度与日常生活活动能力的相关性

目的：研究颅脑损伤部位及程度与日常生活活动能力的相关性,为提高鉴定意见的准确性提供理论依据。方法选取颅脑损伤被鉴定人501例,详细记录其伤前情况、损伤部位及程度、治疗方式、教育程度,应用日常生活活动能力量表（Barthel指数）对被鉴定人进行测验,统计损伤部位及程度与Barthel指数的相关性。结果轻度颅脑损伤组各损伤部位Barthel指数差异无统计学意义（P〉0.05）;中度颅脑损伤组蛛网膜下腔出血与其他脑叶损伤,顶、枕叶损伤与额叶损伤,顶、枕叶损伤与颞叶损伤间Barthel指数差异均具有统计学意义（P〈0.05）,额叶损伤与颞叶损伤Barthel指数差异无统计学意义（P〉0.05）;重度颅脑损伤不论手术与否,各颅脑损伤部位的Barthel指数两两之间差异均有统计学意义（P〈0.05）。结论颅脑损伤部位与Barthel指数存在一定相关性,对分析判断颅脑损伤后日常生活活动能力具有重要的参考价值。     

PSYCHOLOGICAL,NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF SERIOUS ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR IN ADOLESCENCE: THE ROLE OF SELF‐CONTROL*

Gottfredson and Hirschi claim that self‐control is the only enduring personal characteristic implicated in criminal activity. Other scholars, such as Moffitt and Rowe, claim that although self‐control is important, so are neuropsychological and physiological factors. This study attempts to adjudicate between these two positions by examining the ways in which neuropsychological factors, especially those relevant to executive function, biological factors, especially those relevant to autonomic reactivity, and self‐control interrelate to distinguish between offenders and nonoffenders. Data were obtained from adolescents attending public high schools in northern California and adolescents incarcerated in the California Youth Authority. Serious juvenile offenders evince lower resting heart rate, show poorer performance on tasks that activate cognitive functions mediated by the prefrontal cortex, especially those measuring spatial working memory, and score lower on measures of self‐control. Regression analyses indicated that although variations in self‐control distinguish between the two groups, so too do neuropsychological and biological factors, a result that both supports and refutes Gottfredson and Hirschi's contention. In contrast, variation in minor delinquency among high school students is unrelated to frontal lobe functioning and heart rate, but related to variations in self‐control.     

Callous-Unemotional Traits and Social Information Processing: Multiple Risk-Factor Models for Understanding Aggressive Behavior in Antisocial Youth

This study examined multiple risk factor models of links among callous-unemotional traits, aggression beliefs, social information processing, impulsivity, and aggressive behavior in a sample of 150 antisocial adolescents. Consistent with past research, results indicated that beliefs legitimizing aggression predicted social information processing biases and that social information processing biases mediated the effect of beliefs on aggressive behavior. Callous-unemotional traits accounted for unique variance in aggression above and beyond effects of more established risk factors of early onset of antisocial behavior, social information processing, and impulsivity. These findings add to recent research showing that callous-unemotional traits are a unique risk factor associated with aggression and criminal offending and suggest that targeting both affective and cognitive vulnerabilities may enhance clinical intervention with antisocial youth.     

Traumatic Brain Injury Among Mothers Identified as Having a High Risk of Child Maltreatment: A Pilot Study

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) occurs frequently and may result in deficits in concentration, fatigue, attention, aggression and emotion regulation; significantly impacting an individual’s ability to function. This study examined reports of TBI among mothers identified as having high risk for child abuse/maltreatment. Participants were 206 Mothers referred to a child abuse prevention programme (The Family Help Trust, Christchurch, New Zealand) between 2003 and 2010 (n?=?206); TBI prevalence of 36.4 % (n?=?75). One-third had experienced multiple TBI (n?=?24), and 58.7 % (n?=?44) of those reporting TBI had experienced their first injury prior to age 16. TBI in at-risk mothers was more than three times the TBI found in community samples, with many injuries occurring in childhood. Given the increased prevalence of TBI among mothers at high risk of child abuse, there is a need for greater information regarding the long-term outcomes of TBI, particularly for vulnerable groups requiring assistance to manage life roles.     

PRETREATMENT CHARACTERISTICS AND TREATMENT PERFORMANCE OF LEGALLY COERCED VERSUS VOLUNTARY METHADONE MAINTENANCE ADMISSIONS*

Analyses were conducted to determine whether addicts coerced into treatment by actions of the criminal justice system differed from voluntary entrants in terms of background characteristics, early risk factors, or drug use and criminal behavior during pretreatment, treatment, and post treatment periods. Subjects were categorized into high, moderate, and low legal coercion groups based on their official legal status, related narcotics testing requirements, and their self-reported perceptions of criminal justice system coercion. Those induced to enter the treatment program through legal channels had slightly higher rates of serious property offenses and higher proportions of time incarcerated and under legal supervision, but they did not differ from voluntary entrants in overall criminal behavior during pretreatment periods. All groups showed substantial improvement in level of narcotics use, criminal involvement, and most other behaviors during treatment, but there was some regression after treatment.     

Epilepsy,violence and aggression: Legal implications

Controversy exists in the literature as to whether or not there is a causal relationship between epilepsy and violence. In spite of this lack of certainty, epilepsy has long been used as a criminal defense. After a review of the relevant literature, the following conclusions are made: (1) ictal violence is rare, disorganized, and very unlikely to result in acts of vicious violence; and (2) whether or not interictal violence is caused by epilepsy probably depends on the focus of the seizure activity, with right temporal lobe epileptics being most likely to display violence and aggression.     

A fundamental attribution error? Rethinking cognitive distortions†

The notion of ‘cognitive distortion’ has become enshrined in the offender treatment literature over the last 20 years, yet the concept still suffers from a lack of definitional clarity. In particular, the umbrella term is often used to refer to offence‐supportive attitudes, cognitive processing during an offence sequence, as well as post‐hoc neutralisations or excuses for offending. Of these very different processes, the last one might be the most popular and problematic. Treatment programmes for offenders often aim to eliminate excuse‐making as a primary aim, and decision‐makers place great weight on the degree to which an offender “takes responsibility” for his or her offending. Yet, the relationship between these after‐the‐fact explanations and future crime is not at all clear. Indeed, the designation of post hoc excuses as criminogenic may itself be an example of fallacious thinking. After all, outside of the criminal context, post hoc excuse‐making is widely viewed as normal, healthy, and socially rewarded behaviour. We argue that the open exploration of contextual risk factors leading to offending can help in the identification of criminogenic factors as well as strengthen the therapeutic experience. Rather than insist that offenders take “responsibility” for the past, we suggest that efforts should focus on helping them take responsibility for the future, shifting the therapeutic focus from post hoc excuses to offence‐supportive attitudes and underlying cognitive schemas that are empirically linked to re‐offending.     

Predictors of sexual aggression among male juvenile offenders

The purpose of this study was to conduct a longitudinal examination of predictors of sexual aggression among male juvenile offenders. Four hundred and four adolescent males between the ages of 14 and 17 years were recruited from juvenile probation offices to take part in a prospective study of substance use and sexual risk. At baseline, participants completed a series of questionnaires that assessed putative risk factors for sexual aggression. They then completed a measure of sexual aggression at the 6-month follow-up period. Correlational analyses revealed that participants who reported hard drug use, more frequent alcohol and marijuana use, and less severe offenses reported engaging in more severe sexual aggression. In addition, participants who reported higher impulsivity, sensation seeking, and externalizing behaviors also reported participating in more severe sexual aggression. When these variables were included in a regression analysis, only externalizing behaviors and severity of offense uniquely predicted severity of sexual aggression at the 6-month follow-up.     

Aggression, psychopathy and brain imaging — Review and future recommendations

Violent behavior appears to result from a complex web of interacting genetic as well as environmental factors. Psychopathy is a strong predictor for relapse in violent acts. The current review shed light on rapidly expanding knowledge in brain imaging related to violent behavior and psychopathy. A literature search was performed in PubMed, Cochrane and PsycInfo combining the key words: mentally disordered offender/aggression/violence/ crime/forensic psychiatry/brain imaging neuroimaging/fMRI/MRI/PET/SPECT/lack of empathy/psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder. The reviewed material, which consisted of 48 articles, indicates a rather strong consensus on the connection between dysfunctional parts of the frontal and temporal lobes and violent antisocial behavior and psychopathy. In future studies, it would be useful to focus on the limbic system and to investigate which parts of the frontal lobes and cerebral networks that are of interest in the psychopathic personality. Moreover, the reviewed material highlights some of the methodological difficulties in this area of research such as selection bias in the recruitment of patients, inadequate matching of control subjects, and sometimes incongruous results. In the future we hope that brain imaging can be used to map biological deviations in different offenders in order to try to learn more about the different mechanisms behind violent behaviors.     

Confinement as a two‐stage turning point: Do changes in identity or social structure predict subsequent changes in criminal activity?*

Scholars frequently characterize incarceration as a possible turning point in criminal activity. This implies a two‐stage process: 1) change in life‐course mechanisms around confinement and reentry result in 2) subsequent change in criminal activity relative to preconfinement. Following this model, we examine change in criminal activity, criminal identity, and social/structural challenges using data from the Prison Project, a cohort of adult males with short‐term confinement in the Netherlands in 2010–2011. Results of a novel test for within‐individual change in arrests from preconfinement to post‐reentry show that most individuals are stable—yet there is a substantial group who go down meaningfully and a much smaller group who go up. Even though changes in criminal identity from the intervening period do not predict these change groups, increases in social/structural challenges predict those who go up in criminal activity. We build from prior work on desistance and reentry, contrasting our findings and highlighting the unique insight gained from, as well as challenges of, measuring individual change within our two‐stage turning point model. Although life‐course mechanisms often correspond with changes in criminal activity concurrently, identifying individual changes that are predictors of subsequent shifts in criminal offending remains elusive.     

Arsenic Poisoning Caused by Intentional Contamination of Coffee at a Church Gathering—An Epidemiological Approach to a Forensic Investigation

Abstract: An outbreak of apparent food‐borne illness following a church gathering was promptly reported to the Maine Bureau of Health. Gastrointestinal symptoms among church attendees were initially attributed to consumption of leftover sandwiches that had been served the previous day. However, a rapid epidemiological and laboratory assessment revealed the etiology of illness, including the death of an elderly gentleman, was not food‐borne in origin. A criminal investigation determined that deliberate arsenic contamination of the brewed coffee by one of the church members was the source of the outbreak. Public health officials and criminal investigators must be aware that intentional biologic aggression can initially present as typical unintentional disease outbreaks. Practitioners must also consider the need to properly maintain and preserve potential forensic evidence. This case demonstrates the key role public health practitioners may play in criminal investigations.     

Self-control, risky lifestyles, and situation: The role of opportunity and context in the general theory

Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990) propose that low self-control is a cause of criminal behavior. Several recent studies showed mixed support for the theory and called for researchers to examine proximate causes that might intercede between self-control and criminality including lifestyle and the social circumstances of criminal events. Utilizing a sample of 125 homeless male street youths, this study explored how low self-control, risky lifestyles, and street youths' reactions to situations influenced their participation in a range of violent behaviors both as offenders and victims. Results revealed that certain sub-scales of low self-control influenced the way street youth react to criminal events and the likelihood that they would become an offender or victim. Lifestyle and situational dynamics of conflicts also influenced people's propensity to become involved in violence. This suggests that learned repertoires for aggression and situational dynamics can mediate the effects of low self-control.     

犯罪人的适应性非理性及其防控

犯罪人在本质上可以认定为非理性的。界定理性和非理性的标准，从犯罪心理学意义上说，就是看行为人能否考虑和愿否考虑行为的后果。犯罪人在神智正常的情况下，不能考虑犯罪行为的后果，或者不愿考虑犯罪行为的后果，说明了其是非理性的，这种非理性主要表现为低自控和低自珍。犯罪人的非理性的生成是环境适应的结果，可以把犯罪人的非理性看作为适应性的非理性。犯罪人非理性的防控是犯罪预防的根本环节，应该从加强司法惩处和教育宣传等方面出发，引导理性。     

Child Abuse,Neglect, and Delinquency: The Neurological Link

Recent research has demonstrated a clear connection between physical, emotional, and sexual abuse and neglect during childhood, and negative changes in a child's neurological development. Abnormal growth and developmental patterns in a child's brain as a result of abuse and neglect can lead to life‐long problems with self‐control, memory, emotion, judgment, consequential thinking, and moral reasoning, resulting in an increased likelihood of substance abuse, juvenile delinquency, and adult criminal behaviors. This article provides information on the abused child, neurological implications, and recommendations.     

Relationship Between Self‐Injurious Behaviors and Levels of Aggression in Children and Adolescents Who Were Subject to Medicolegal Examination,

Aggression, which is defined as a behavior causing harm or pain, is a behavioral pattern typically expected in children and adolescents who are involved in criminal activities. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between aggression and self‐injurious behavior (SIB) in children and adolescents. The study was performed in 295 cases which were sent for medicolegal examination. The mean age of the subjects was 14.27 ± 1.05 years (age range 10–18 years). The aggression levels of the subjects were determined using the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ), which is an updated form of the Buss‐Durkee Hostility Inventory. The mean total AQ score of the subjects with and without SIB was 78.04 ± 21.0 and 62.75 ± 18.05, respectively (p < 0.01). There were significant statistical differences between the two groups with respect to their subscale scores (p < 0.01). It was concluded that the levels of aggression increased in children and adolescents who were involved in criminal activities when the SIBs increased.     

Can Callous-Unemotional Traits and Aggression Identify Children at High-Risk of Anti-Social Behavior in a Low Socioeconomic Group?

Frick et al. (2005) proposed that Callous-Unemotional (CU) traits may be an important personality dimension associated with youth offending. The goal of the present study was to examine whether CU traits were associated with risk factors for offending in a low SES sample of children aged 10 years to 11 years in New Zealand. Two subgroups were identified: one high (High-CU/Agg group) and one low (Low-CU/Agg group) on CU traits and aggression. Results showed that scores for the High-CU/Agg group were significantly worse compared to the Low-CU/Agg group on a range of measures including stress management, caregiver criminal convictions, and dysfunctional parenting. However, analyses revealed that the measure of aggression accounted for more unique variance compared to CU traits. Further research is needed with youths from low SES communities to develop a more robust profile of potential youth offenders.     

论人格在定罪中的运用

刑法上的人格特指行为人对刑法所保护价值的对立态度,它是认定犯罪的内在根据。在人格影响定罪问题上,现有的"否定论"、"出罪论"和"法定论"观点都难以给出合理解释。外部行为是人格的现实化,除涉案行为外,人格的载体还包括案前和案后的表现。行为人的对立人格必须达到一定程度,是一切犯罪成立所必需具备的条件。当涉案行为处于立案标准的边缘时,案前、案后表现等情节就可能使得对行为人的整体人格态度评价发生质的变化,从而发挥人格在出、入罪方面的双向功能。要保障人格的此种功能得到有效落实,除了要扩大法官的自由裁量权外,还应当设立一定的限权机制。     

社会危害性与刑事违法性辨析--重在从"罪刑法定"视角观之

一个时期以来,社会危害性与刑事违法性的争论越来越引起人们的极大关注。社会危害性与刑事违法性是属于两个不同学科、不同领域的问题。在“罪刑法定”原则下,社会危害性更应当回归于犯罪学之中,而在刑法学中用法益侵害和严重的法益侵害取而代之,并且它们只有被明确规定在刑法中才能叫刑法法益侵害。这样规定,不仅剔除了“社会危害性”这一宏观、模糊的、甚至易受主观价值取向改变的犯罪定义标准,而且有利于刑事司法操作。