Sleep apnea as a possible factor contributing to aggression in sex offenders

Sleep disorders, such as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), are often unrecognized and undertreated. A disruption in normal sleep may be associated with increased irritability and aggression. To elucidate further the impact of OSA on hostility of forensic patients, we performed a retrospective chart review of 10 consecutive outpatient sex offenders who were diagnosed with OSA and treated with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). The Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire was compared pre- and posttreatment. Following treatment, the total Buss-Perry score was significantly lower, with lower scores on the anger, physical aggression, hostility, and verbal aggression subscales. These results suggest that in sex offenders suffering from OSA, aggression and hostility may be significantly reduced through CPAP treatment. Further investigation is required to investigate if reducing aggression and hostility in this manner impacts recidivism and overall functioning.     

农村家庭暴力与女性暴力犯罪心理的形成和发展

家庭暴力在我国农村普遍存在,它不仅影响家庭和睦,严重摧残女性的身心健康,而且成为当今社会女性暴力犯罪心理形成的直接诱因。农村受虐女性经历困惑、伤心、绝望无助、报复泄恨等心理变化,最终形成了犯罪心理并在特定情景下激化成暴力犯罪行为。应据此采取有效措施,预防女性暴力犯罪心理、犯罪行为的发生发展。     

The reduction of violent crime through economic equality for women

Normally we do not link the reduction of violent crime with equal rights for women, this paper traces such a linkage. Central to the logic of this argument is that the distribution of the frequency of violent crime is often described by a bimodal curve which supposedly distinguishes between minor, unimportant offenders and a distinct group of serious offenders: the target for many policies being the latter. In fact, this bimodal distribution does not exist; therefore, policies based on it will be fruitless. The larger group of minor offenders is basically ignored. The distribution of violence is better described as a continuous skewed curve which retains its shape. Thus, an effective policy to reduce violence would have to shift the entire curve to the left. Reducing the more numerous acts of lesser violence rather than concentrating on the rarer cases of extreme violence would be more effective. Since much violence is nurtured in family settings, policies that decrease stress in family settings would have a meaningful impact on future violence. Stress could be reduced with greater economic equality for women, making it possible for them to leave potentially violent domestic settings. In the long term this would have an impact on violent crime.     

Attachment styles and violence in child molesters

Abstract

It has been suggested that sexual offenders lack the capacity to engage in or to maintain intimate relationships and that their attachment styles are insecure. The present study tested some of the implications of this theory with a group of incest offenders, nonfamilial child molesters, nonsex offenders, and nonoffenders recruited from the local community. Subjects completed a self-report questionnaire detailing their characteristic relationship style, and the level of violence employed by all sexual offenders was obtained from institutional files. Nonfamilial child molesters were five times more likely to report a fearful avoidant relationship style than a secure style compared to the community group. When they rated the degree to which they considered themselves to be fearful avoidant, the ratings of the nonfamilial child molesters were significantly higher than the ratings of community subjects and incest offenders. Incest offenders did not differ from community controls or from nonsex offender controls. Of the pooled group of child molesters, dismissively avoidant offenders employed higher levels of aggression in their offences than did secure or fearful avoidant offenders. These results are discussed in the light of current theory, and suggestions for future research and treatment initiatives are offered.     

论交通肇事犯罪人的特点及刑事责任

交通肇事犯罪人属于一般自然人主体,具有与传统犯罪人不同的性格特征,交通肇事犯罪人在主观上是过失心态。行为人交通肇事后逃逸是我国刑法规定的加重处罚情形,交通肇事犯罪人的共犯是我国刑法规定的特殊处罚情形,交通肇事后行为人遗弃被害人的,应当按故意杀人罪或故意伤害罪处罚。应当从刑事立法、刑事政策、犯罪学理论三方面入手,加强对交通肇事犯罪人的预防和惩处,有效防止交通肇事罪的发生。     

The impact of pre-treatment responsivity and treatment participation on violent recidivism in a violent offender sample

This study assessed whether pre-treatment responsivity (psychopathy, motivation to attend treatment, denial and minimisation of offending behaviour, and feelings of guilt or shame) predicted violent recidivism and/or moderated the effectiveness of a violence intervention programme. Participants were 114 male violent offenders who were referred to a structured violent offender group treatment programme; 84 offenders commenced the programme. Results showed that treatment completion did not have a significant main effect on recidivism but that psychopathy scores moderated the effects of treatment. Offenders with high scores on the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV) who were rated as having good engagement with treatment, or who completed treatment, had similar violent recidivism rates compared to offenders with low PCL:SV scores. In contrast, offenders with high PCL:SV scores who dropped out of treatment or were poorly engaged had significantly higher rates of violent recidivism. These findings indicate that treatment effectiveness could be enhanced, and greater reductions in recidivism achieved, if programmes find ways to engage and maintain psychopathic offenders in treatment.     

The Development of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in a Sample of Child Witnesses to Mother Assault

This exploratory study examined the relationship between the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a number of coping variables in child witnesses to mother assault. The sample consisted of 84 children (mean age 11 years) who had been referred from shelters for battered women and child welfare agencies. Comparisons of those who met PTSD criteria (n = 47) and those who did not meet PTSD criteria (n = 37) found significant differences on variables of age, duration, and frequency of witnessing children. Child self-report instruments indicated that the PTSD group differed significantly from the non-PTSD group on the basis of assault anxiety, depression, dissociation, anger, and negative attributions. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that factors related to negative attributions and assault variables each contributed significantly to explaining 71% of the variance of PTSD symptoms, after the variables of age and sex were controlled. Discriminant function analysis correctly classified 84.3% of the respondents. The relevance of PTSD to child witnesses is considered, along with study limitations.     

Gender comparisons in the relationship between parental and sibling violence and nonfamily violence

This paper addresses two neglected areas in the research on the relationship between family violence and violence outside the home: violence other than parent-child abuse and the effect of gender. Specifically, we consider both parental and sibling violence as independent variables, nonfamily violence as the dependent variable, and gender as the specification variable. The data were collected from a sample of 306 students in Introductory Sociology and Social Problems classes. The finding of particular importance is that the interaction between the gender of both the aggressor and the victim has a significant effect on the relationship between violence within the home and nonfamily violence.     

Violence risk profile of medium- and high-security NGRI offenders in Belgium

Under Belgian law, offenders not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) are committed by the courts to forensic mental health treatment. The use of violence risk assessment tools has become routine in these settings. However, there are no national statistics regarding violence risk assessment in the Belgian forensic population. A study was undertaken to collect risk assessment data (PCL-R, VRAG, HCR-20) on a large cohort of forensic patients committed to Medium Security units in the Flanders region and in High-Security units in the Walloon region. Flemish patients were expected to present a lower risk compared with their Walloon counterparts. Instead, data yielded by a structured risk assessment method demonstrate the opposite. Moreover, the majority of patients in Flemish facilities had committed violent offenses and were institutionalized for shorter periods whereas the majority of Walloon patients had committed sexual offenses and were institutionalized for markedly longer periods.     

A measure of skewness in offense distributions

It has become a criminological fact of life that a small group of offenders is responsible for a far greater share of offending than its size would suggest. For example, it is well known that in the 1945 Philadelphia birth cohort, 6% of the cohort members committed 52% of the offenses. We argue, however, that the conventional percentaging approach to measuring skewness in offense distributions is inadequate. We propose and apply an alternative approach to measuring offense skewness which utilizes the offense distribution to its fullest and can easily and meaningfully be used for comparisons across or within study populations.     

The role of beliefs and trait aggression in prison bullying among young offenders

This study aimed to explore the characteristics of those involved in bullying, including trait aggression, beliefs, interpretation of potential threat and responses to aggression. Three hundred and thirteen young adult male offenders completed three measures; the Direct and Indirect Prisoner Behaviour Checklist, the Aggression Questionnaire, and the Threat Appraisal of Behaviour measure. Pure bullies and bully-victims were predicted to have higher trait aggression scores, and to be more likely to endorse beliefs supportive of aggression than other groups. Bully-victims were predicted to have higher levels of trait hostility and higher levels of fear than pure bullies. The results demonstrated that both bully groups had higher trait aggression scores, with bully-victims having higher scores on the hostility subscale than pure bullies or those not involved. Bully-victims viewed bullying as more of a threat and were more fearful of it than pure bullies and they were also more likely to endorse both aggressive and avoidant coping responses whereas pure bullies were more likely to endorse aggressive responding. Findings highlight differences between the two bully groups and offers an outline of the underpinning causes of bullying for each group.     

我国刑事责任年龄之检视

刑事责任年龄在中外刑事立法中均有明文规定,由于各国的刑事政策和少年儿童的生长发育情况不同,故刑事责任的起始年龄也有较大差异。我国刑法规定该年龄的起点为14周岁,为了适应犯罪低龄化及未成年人身心发育成熟提前等客观形势,有必要将该年龄适当下调至13周岁。     

Effects of Trait Anger and Negative Attitudes Towards Women on Physical Assault in Dating Relationships

The present study investigated the combined effect of trait anger and negative attitudes towards women (i.e., hostility towards women, calloused sexual beliefs) on frequency of physical aggression in premarital relationships. A total of 263 college-aged men who reported that they were either currently involved in a romantic relationship or had been involved in at least one romantic relationship during the past 12 months were recruited. Participants completed a battery of questionnaires, including the Conflict Tactics Scale-2, Trait Anger Scale, Hostility Towards Women Scale, and Hypermasculinity Inventory. Correlational analyses indicated that trait anger, hostility towards women, and calloused sexual beliefs were positively associated with frequency of physical assault. Further, hierarchical regression analyses indicated that both hostility towards women and calloused sexual beliefs moderated the relationship between trait anger and frequency of physical assault, such that in men who possess more negative attitudes towards women, higher levels of trait anger lead to increased physical assault. Results provide initial support for the role of trait anger in dating violence and suggest the existence of a subgroup among premaritally violent males who possess negative attitudes toward women and also possess a strong tendency to experience intense levels of anger.     

精神病人刑事责任能力影响因素研究

目的研究精神病人刑事责任能力影响因素。方法用湖南医科大学精神卫生研究所编制的精神病人责任能力评定量表,对司法部司法鉴定中心2001年鉴定的159例刑事责任能力评定案件进行回顾性资料分析。结果该量表的绝大多数条目在不同责任能力组差异均达统计学显著性水平,对作案行为的罪错性认识、作案现实动机、自我控制能力损害、自知力损害、作案时间选择性、现实检验能力损害、生活自理能力损害、工作或学习能力损害等是影响其辨认能力和控制能力的主要因素,以对作案行为的罪错性认识、作案现实动机、自知力损害等因素更为明显。结论责任能力评定量表可为精神病人责任能力评定提供相对可靠的客观依据。     

Physically violent husbands of the 1890s and their resources

This article applies Goode's Resource Theory of wife beating to Lane County, Oregon from 1891 to 1900. The sample population consists of 56 women who appeared in divorce suits and claimed that their husbands had physically abused them. The study's findings largely support Resource Theory, although biases in the sample population make it more suggestive than conclusive. Wife beaters of the 1890s tended to be relatively low in economic and social resources, particularly when compared to their wives. The violent husbands' resources appear particularly slight when their psychological resources are considered. The article closes by suggesting that Resource Theory is not necessarily at odds with feminist interpretations of wife battering. Social scientists who assert that husbands' physical violence is more likely when their dominance is pronounced rather than fragile need to define more carefully and detect the actual level of power and resources that particular husbands enjoy.     

Violence in Police Families: Work-Family Spillover

This article uses a path model to examine the relationship between violence exposure and domestic violence among police officers with the expectation that the relationships would be both direct and mediated. The mediation factors included burnout, authoritarian spillover, alcohol use, and department withdrawal. The model was tested through an analysis of data collected from 413 officers. Four mediation chains were identified; the most powerful of these was burnout and authoritarian spillover. Suggestions for future research include understanding violence in the context of unique workplace cultures, classifying violence types, and clarifying how this population defines violence and control.     

An Integrated Theoretical Model of Sibling Violence and Abuse

Drawing on three theoretical perspectives (feminist, conflict, and social learning), an integrated analytical model of adolescence sibling violence and abuse is proposed. The model suggests that certain characteristics of the parents' relationship, various aspects of parent–child relations, and characteristics of the sibling relationship are major components in explaining sibling violence and abuse. These are mediated by individual sibling characteristics and sibling verbal conflict. The model should enable researchers to systematically examine, in a more holistic way, the factors related to violence and abuse, and to assess their relative importance in accounting for these phenomena.     

A Comparison of Men and Women Arrested for Domestic Violence: Who Presents the Greater Threat?

Recent increases in the number of women arrested for domestic violence raise important questions about implementation of proarrest policies, equivalency of intimate partner aggression across genders, and management of female domestic violence offenders. This study compares demographic characteristics, criminal history variables, and the past domestic violence history of men (n = 5,578) and women (n = 1,126) arrested for domestic assault against a heterosexual intimate partner. Using victim reported information and data collected by local criminal justice agencies, we found that female arrestees were significantly less likely than males to have histories that warrant concern regarding the potential for future violence. Implications of these findings are discussed.