Investigation of a typology of alcohol‐related violence defined by ultimate goals

Purpose. Alcohol‐related violence is a serious problem and treatments for high‐risk individuals need to be developed. Classification helps to route people into appropriate treatments. Drawing on animal research, we define alcohol‐related violence in relation to ultimate goals. We propose three types of violence: (1) violence in the pursuit of material goals, (2) violence in pursuit of social dominance goals, and (3) violence as defence in response to threat. The aim is to explore factors that we expect to relate to this tripartite typology, with the aim of providing a preliminary validation. Method. Participants were 149 young male prisoners who had committed an offence of violence that was alcohol related. Semi‐structured interviews elicited information about the offence that enabled classification into one of the three types. Differences between groups were examined at the event level – level of violence during the offence and alcohol consumption before the offence – and at group level – trait aggression, trait anxiety, anger control, and alcohol–aggression outcome expectancies. Results. No differences were found in levels of violence or alcohol consumption. Those whose violence was in the pursuit of material goals were high on trait aggression, trait anger, trait anxiety, and anger suppression. Those who used violence in the pursuit of social dominance showed high trait aggression and trait anger. Those whose violence was a defence in response to threat showed lower trait aggression and trait anger. Conclusion. The findings are discussed in relation to differential group profiles and treatment needs.     

Understanding dynamic risk factors for violence

ABSTRACT

Recent years have seen a consensus emerge regarding the dynamic risk factors that are associated with future violence. These risk factors are now routinely assessed in structured violence risk assessment instruments. They provide a focus for treatment in structured group programmes. However, relatively little attention has been paid to risk-related theoretical issues, whether these dynamic risk factors are causally related or simply correlates of violent offending, or the extent to which they change as a consequence of treatment. More challenging is the lack of evidence to suggest that changes in these dynamic risk factors actually result in reductions in violent offending. In this paper we consider the meaning of the term dynamic risk, arguing that only those factors that, when changed, reduce the likelihood of violent recidivism, can be considered to be truly dynamic. We conclude that few of the violence risk factors commonly regarded as dynamic fulfil this requirement. There is a need to think more critically about assessment findings and treatment recommendations relating to dynamic risk, and conduct research that establishes, rather than assumes, that certain dynamic risk factors are directly related to violence. Some suggestions for advancing knowledge and practice are provided.     

The association of distress and denial of responsibility with maladaptive personality traits and self‐esteem in offenders

This study aimed to examine the relationship of offenders' distress and responsibility with maladaptive personality traits, self‐esteem, and offence‐type. It also further validated the Distress and Responsibility Scale (DRS; Xuereb et al., 2009a, Pers. Individ. Diff., 46, 465). A new sub‐scale measuring social desirability was included and assessed in the DRS. Maladaptive personality traits and self‐esteem were measured in relation to the following predictions: (1) that maladaptive personality traits would positively correlate with distress (2) that self‐esteem would negatively correlate with distress and acknowledging responsibility. The sample was 405 male sexual, violent, and general offenders from a UK prison. Participants anonymously completed a questionnaire measuring the variables under investigation. The factor‐structure of the DRS was confirmed via Confirmatory Factor Analysis after minor changes. No significant differences in distress and denial of responsibility were found between sexual, violent, and general offenders. Maladaptive personality traits positively correlated with chronic and offence‐related distress, chronic self‐blame, and minimization of offence harm. Chronic and offence‐related distress and responsibility negatively related to self‐esteem. The study concludes that the DRS has reached stability, and that the social desirability scale increases the measure's validity. Assessment and treatment for offence‐related distress and denial of responsibility should be offered to all offence groups. Offenders would benefit from structured interventions to manage difficulties associated with maladaptive personality traits, including chronic distress and self‐blame. Finally, it was concluded that self‐esteem might serve a self‐defensive function for offenders.     

Gender and Appraisals as Mediators of Adjustment in Children Exposed to Interparental Violence

The hypothesis that children's appraisals mediate the relationship between interparental violence and adjustment was tested in a sample of 106 maritally violent families. Multiple regressions showed that interparental violence was a predictor of total problems, externalizing, internalizing, and anxiety for boys, and total problems and internalizing for girls. Appraisals of conflict properties mediated the relationship between violence and boys' total problems and externalizing, and girls' total problems and internalizing. Interparental violence was related to appraisals in gender-differentiated ways, particularly to increased threat for boys, and self-blame for girls. Further, threat mediated the impact of violence on boys' anxiety, while self-blame mediated the relationship between violence and girls' internalizing.     

SELF‐CONTROL AND VICTIMIZATION: A META‐ANALYSIS

A consequential development in victimization theory and research was the idea that individuals with low self‐control self‐select into the various risky behaviors that may ultimately result in their victimization. To establish the empirical status of the self‐control–victimization link, we subjected this body of work to a meta‐analysis. Our multilevel analyses of 311 effect size estimates drawn from 66 studies (42 independent data sets) indicate that self‐control is a modest yet consistent predictor of victimization. The results also show that the effect of self‐control is significantly stronger when predicting noncontact forms of victimization (e.g., online victimization) and is significantly reduced in studies that control directly for the risky behaviors that are assumed to mediate the self‐control–victimization link. We also note that the studies assessing self‐control and victimization are not representative of victimization research as a whole, with intimate partner violence (IPV), violence against women, and child abuse being severely underrepresented. We conclude that future research should continue to examine the causal processes linking self‐control to victimization, how self‐control shapes victims’ coping responses to their experience, and whether self‐control matters in contexts where individuals may have limited autonomy over the behavioral routines that put them at risk for victimization.     

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LEGISLATION: EXPLORING ITS IMPACT ON THE LIKELIHOOD OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE,POLICE INVOLVEMENT,AND ARREST*

Research Summary: This research uses data from the National Crime Victimization Survey to test whether legislation affects domestic violence, police involvement, and arrest. Findings suggest that most laws do reduce the chances of family or intimate violence. Fewer appear to influence police involvement, and none relate to more arrest. This suggests that laws may deter would‐be offenders from harming family and partners. Policy Implications: The findings suggest that states should continue to aggressively pursue domestic violence offenders. However, local officials should recognize that mandatory arrest laws could reduce the number of cases that enter the system. Further, more protection should go toward victims when the state awards them custody of the children.     

The Accuracy of Handheld Pre‐Arrest Breath Test Instruments as a Predictor of the Evidential Breath Alcohol Test Results

Drunk driving is a serious threat to public safety. All available and appropriate tools for curbing this threat should be employed to their full extent. The handheld pre‐arrest breath test instrument (PBT) is one tool for identifying the alcohol‐impaired driver and enforcing drunk driving legislation. A set of data was evaluated (n = 1779) where the PBT instrument was employed in drunk driving arrests to develop a multivariate predictive model. When maintained and operated by trained personnel, the PBT provides a reasonable estimate of the evidential test result within the relevant forensic range (95% prediction interval:  ± 0.003 g/210 L). ROC analysis shows that a multivariate model for PBT prediction of the evidentiary alcohol concentration above versus below the legal limit of 0.08 g/210 L has excellent performance with an AUC of 0.96. These results would be of value in evidential hearings seeking to admit the PBT results in drunk driving trials.     

The Crime of Self‐Solicitation

I hold that we could justifiably criminalize some threats, on account of the fact that issuing them renders one more likely to commit a crime. But I also point out that if we criminalize some threat‐issuing, we will de facto criminalize some warning‐issuing, which is unjust. So we ought not to criminalize any threat‐issuing. Instead, we should criminalize (roughly) rendering oneself more likely to commit a crime. This would allow us to punish all the threat‐issuers we should want to punish. It would also force us to punish some warning‐issuers, but we would not be punishing them for their warning‐issuing.     

SUBSTANCE USE‐INDUCED DIMINUTION OF VIOLENCE: A COUNTERVAILING EFFECT IN LONGITUDINAL PERSPECTIVE*

Although the literature supports a positive association between substance use and violence, scattered reports suggest a basis for predicting an inverse relationship. Using panel data (N = 2, 222) from subjects tested during early adolescence and three years later, we estimate structural equation models that specify within‐wave relationships between substance use and violence constructs, stability of these constructs over time, and lagged effects of each construct on the other. As hypothesized, net of the within‐wave positive relationships, substance use was inversely related to later violence. The findings support theoretical orientations that accommodate motivation to use substances to assuage distressful self‐feelings (including those that instigate violence).     

PARTNER ABUSE AND GENERAL CRIME: HOW ARE THEY THE SAME? HOW ARE THEY DIFFERENT?*

Both partner abuse and general crime violate the rights and safety of victims. But are these phenomena the same or are they distinct, demanding their own research and intervention specialties? Are per‐ sons who abuse their partners the same people who commit other criminal behavior? Do partner abuse and general crime share the same correlates? We investigated these questions in a birth cohort of over 800 young adults, by testing whether a personality model known to predict general crime would also predict partner abuse. Personality data were gathered at age 18, and self‐reported partner abuse and general criminal offending were measured at age 21. Results from modeling latent constructs showed that partner abuse and general crime represent different constructs that are moderately related; they are not merely two expressions of the same underlying antisocial propensity. Group comparisons showed many, but not all, partner abusers also engaged in violence against nonintimates. Personality analyses showed that partner abuse and general crime shared a strong propensity from a trait called Negative Emotionality. However, crime was related to weak Constraint (low self‐control), but partner abuse was not. All findings applied to women as well as to men, suggesting that women's partner abuse may be motivated by the same intra‐personal features that motivate men's abuse. The results are consistent with theoretical and applied arguments about the “uniqueness” of partner violence relative to other crime and violence.     

Alcohol and Violence Related Cognitive Risk Factors Associated with the Perpetration of Intimate Partner Violence

The primary aim of this study is to determine the association between alcohol, violence related cognitive risk factors, and impulsivity with the perpetration of partner violence among current drinkers. A probability sample (n = 1468) of White, Black, and Hispanic couples 18 years of age or older in the United States household population was interviewed in 1995 with a response rate of 85%. The risk factors of interest included the alcohol and violence related cognitions of approval of marital aggression, alcohol as an excuse for misbehavior, and aggressive expectations following alcohol consumption as well as impulsivity. In all, 15% (216/1468) of the respondents reported perpetration of domestic violence. In addition, 24% (7/29) of those who approved of marital violence, 11% (126/1163) of those who reported alcohol use as an excuse for misbehavior, 10% (128/1257) of those who reported aggressive expectations following alcohol consumption, and 14% (99/716) of those who reported impulsivity also reported perpetration of domestic violence. Bivariate analysis indicated that all of the cognitive risk factors were significantly more common in those who reported perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV) (p < 0.05). However, multivariate analysis controlling for ethnicity, education, income, age, gender, and impulsivity indicated that those who reported strong or very strong expectations of aggressive behavior following alcohol consumption were 3.2 (95% CI = 1.3–7.9) times more likely to perpetrate IPV. Although all of the alcohol and violence related cognitive risk factors were associated with the perpetration of domestic violence, expectations of aggressive behavior following alcohol consumption appeared to be the strongest predictor of the perpetration of IPV among current drinkers. Therefore, alcohol expectancy may be an important factor to assess when attempting to identify and treat perpetrators of domestic violence who are also current drinkers.     

Do court‐ and self‐referred domestic violence offenders share the same characteristics? A preliminary comparison of motivation to change,locus of control and anger

Objectives. The purpose of this research was to assess whether court‐ and self‐referred domestic violence offenders differ on levels of motivation to change, personal control and anger, and hence whether these two offender groups are distinct. Method. Thirty‐eight court‐referred and 14 self‐referred male domestic violence offenders completed three scales: URICA‐DV, Levenson Locus of Control and Novaco Anger Scale. Results. It was found that self‐referred men exhibited significantly higher levels of motivation to change, internal locus of control and anger in response to anger‐provoking situations than did court‐referred men. Conclusions. The results indicate that there may be fundamental differences between these two offender groups and question the suitability of combining these groups in offender treatment. Results are discussed in the context of treatment efficacy and outcome.     

Violence in and around Entertainment Districts: A Longitudinal Analysis of the Impact of Late‐Night Lockout Legislation

Violence in entertainment districts is a major problem across urban landscapes throughout the world. Research shows that licensed premises are the third most common location for homicides and serious assaults, accounting for one in ten fatal and nonfatal assaults. One class of interventions that aims to reduce violence in entertainment districts involves the use of civil remedies: a group of strategies that use civil or regulatory measures as legal “levers” to reduce problem behavior. One specific civil remedy used to reduce problematic behavior in entertainment districts involves manipulation of licensed premise trading hours. This article uses generalized linear models to analyze the impact of lockout legislation on recorded violent offences in two entertainment districts in the Australian state of Queensland. Our research shows that 3 a.m. lockout legislation led to a direct and significant reduction in the number of violent incidents inside licensed premises. Indeed, the lockouts cut the level of violent crime inside licensed premises by half. Despite these impressive results for the control of violence inside licensed premises, we found no evidence that the lockout had any impact on violence on streets and footpaths outside licensed premises that were the site for more than 80 percent of entertainment district violence. Overall, however, our analysis suggests that lockouts are an important mechanism that helps to control the level of violence inside licensed premises but that finely grained contextual responses to alcohol‐related problems are needed rather than one‐size‐fits‐all solutions.     

An examination of the impact of community‐based rehabilitation on the offending behaviour of male domestic violence offenders and the characteristics associated with recidivism

Purpose. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of completing a community‐based rehabilitation programme on both the rate of domestic violence reoffending, and time to first post‐treatment offence within an 11‐month follow‐up period. In addition, the pre‐treatment psychological, demographic, and offending history characteristics of recidivists were examined. Methods. Prior to attending West Midlands Probation Area's Domestic Violence Perpetrator Programme (DVPP), 86 male offenders completed a battery of six psychometric tests. The tests were the Novaco Anger Scale, Inventory of Beliefs about Wife Beating, Abusive Behaviour Inventory, Interpersonal Dependency Inventory, Multidimensional Locus of Control Scale and Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding. Post‐treatment reoffending was identified from police contact data. Results. Of the 86 offenders who started the DVPP, 21% were alleged to have reoffended within an 11‐month post‐treatment period. Completing the programme was not significantly associated with either alleged reoffending, or time to first alleged incident. The identified treatment effect size was small (w=0.20). It was found that higher interpersonal dependency and more frequent contact with the police in the 24 months prior to attending the programme for theft and violent domestic violence predicted post‐treatment domestic violence offending. Conclusions. The results of this study indicate that the programme did not significantly reduce the rate of alleged reoffending among programme completers, or the time to first post‐treatment offence reported to the police. However, the results suggest that those offenders who were alleged to have reoffended may represent a distinct offender subgroup. These results are discussed with reference to client treatment matching and the move towards nationally accredited rehabilitation programmes in the UK.     

Domestic Violence: Research and Implications for Batterer Programmes in Europe

The European Union is in the early stages of developing policy and practice guidelines for dealing with domestic violence offenders. There is a real danger, however, that that policy and practice is going to be shaped by political lobbyists rather than academic literature and evidence-based practice. Feminist advocates control the curriculum of domestic violence perpetrator programmes in the US and more recently in the UK and proscribe treatments that do not conform to their conceptualisation of domestic violence. Feminist advocates conceptualise domestic violence as unilateral male-to-female violence enacted to control and dominate women, supported by the patriarchal beliefs and systems of the wider society. Academic support for this theory is lacking, however, and scientifically sound evaluations find that programmes based on this philosophy have little or no effect on recidivism. Empirical literature suggests that domestic violence is not a unitary phenomenon and that perpetrators are a heterogeneous group whose treatment should match their crimingenic needs and risk.     

Trait Anger,Physical Aggression,and Violent Offending in Antisocial and Borderline Personality Disorders

Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD) are common conditions in forensic settings that present high rates of violence. Personality traits related to the five‐factor model personality domains of neuroticism and agreeableness have shown a relationship with physical aggression in nonclinical and general psychiatric samples. The aim of the present investigation was to examine the association of these personality traits with violence and aggression in ASPD and BPD. Results revealed that trait anger/hostility predicted self‐reported physical aggression in 47 ASPD and BPD subjects (β = 0.5, p = 0.03) and number of violent convictions in a subsample of the ASPD participants (β = 0.2, p = 0.009). These preliminary results suggest that high anger and hostility are associated with physical aggression in BPD and ASPD. Application of validated, self‐report personality measures could provide useful and easily accessible information to supplement clinical risk assessment of violence in these conditions.     

The Comparability of Male Violent Substance Abusers in Violence or Substance Abuse Treatment

The abuse of alcohol is strongly associated with violent behavior in general and domestic violence in particular. The present study examined the compara-bility of dual-problem (i.e., substance abuse and conjugal violence) men in substance abuse and violence treatment milieus. Thirty males in substance abuse treatment and 33 men in violence treatment were identified as being dual-problematic and were administered the Addiction Severity Index (ASI) to assess psychosocial and substance abuse status, the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS) for the frequency and type of abusive behavior, the Symptoms Checklist-90 (SCL-90) for psychological distress, and the 16 Personality Factor (16PF) for personality attributes. When dual-problem men from each milieu were compared on these measures, men in the substance abuse-milieu reported not only significantly more severe substance abuse problems, but also more frequent partner sexual abuse. Few other differences emerged. Thus, while current referral procedures may be appropriate in identifying and directing more severe substance abuse problems to the appropriate treatment setting, violent men with difficulties comparable to those seen in violence treatment may also be found in substance abuse treatment. These findings emphasize the need for: (1) routine objective screening for family violence and substance abuse in these two treatment milieus; (2) informed and up-to-date staff in both settings who are sufficiently prepared for the therapeutic challenges such men may present, and (3) more study of how treatment for dual-problem men may be coordinated by the violence and substance abuse treatment communities to optimize their outcome.     

Musci preferences as data in assessing and treating offenders and victims

Contemporary music has been criticized for promoting violence, hatred, misogyny, sexual excess, drug and alcohol abuse, suicide, narcissism, and self-pity. The authors, a criminologist licensed as a mental health counselor and a clinical psychologist, have found that exploring individuals' music preferences can often provide invaluable assistance in understanding how offenders and victims fulfill existential needs common to both of them. These insights can be useful in setting appropriate therapeutic goals, assessing violence potential toward self and others, and making recommendations regarding the need for placement in a secure facility. Notes Paper delivered at the 1998 Annual Meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, Albuquerque, New Mexico, March.