The Relationship Between Gambling Severity and Risk of Criminal Recidivism

Individuals involved with the criminal justice system have the highest prevalence of gambling disorder. Yet, this is an understudied area, especially in relation to postrelease functioning and recidivism risk. Participants (N = 100) were recruited from a local nonprofit organization and a federal probation office. Participants completed both self‐report and interviewer‐administered questionnaires assessing past‐year and lifetime gambling behaviors and problems, legal history, health, and risk of recidivism. Past‐year (8%) and lifetime (18%) rates of gambling disorder among the current sample are significantly greater than those of the general population and similar to rates found in incarcerated populations. Furthermore, 13% of individuals reported a direct relationship between their gambling and crime, and analyses revealed that increased gambling severity was a significant predictor of increased recidivism risk. Results suggest the need for screening and intervention efforts and call for policy reform among incarcerated and ex‐offender populations.     

Intimate Partner Violence within the Chinese Community in San Francisco: Problem Gambling as a Risk Factor

A total of 31 Chinese community members (8 males and 23 females) were recruited from three social service agencies in San Francisco (Donaldina Cameron House, Richmond Area Multi-Services, and St. Mary’s Chinese Center) to participate in a study examining the relationship between problem gambling and intimate partner violence (IPV). A survey approach was taken which assessed the participants’ demographic characteristics including age, gender, country of birth, and employment, as well as factors relating to their intimate partners, including partner’s alcohol abuse and problem gambling. Younger participants and those whose partners were problem gamblers were more likely to experience IPV. However, partner’s problem gambling was a significant predictor only at the ten-point cutoff on the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) (Lesieur and Blume, American Journal of Psychiatry, 1987) and not at the five-point cutoff. Chinese participants whose partners were problem gamblers (SOGS ≥ 10) were 27.5 times more likely to experience IPV. Findings are discussed and social work practice, policy, and research implications are highlighted.

Prevalence of Criminal Thinking among State Prison Inmates with Serious Mental Illness

To examine the prevalence of criminal thinking in mentally disordered offenders, incarcerated male (n = 265) and female (n = 149) offenders completed measures of psychiatric functioning and criminal thinking. Results indicated 92% of the participants were diagnosed with a serious mental illness, and mentally disordered offenders produced criminal thinking scores on the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) and Criminal Sentiments Scale-Modified (CSS-M) similar to that of non-mentally ill offenders. Collectively, results indicated the clinical presentation of mentally disordered offenders is similar to that of psychiatric patients and criminals. Implications are discussed with specific focus on the need for mental health professionals to treat co-occurring issues of mental illness and criminality in correctional mental health treatment programs.     

Associations between national gambling policies and disordered gambling prevalence rates within Europe

Policymakers and other interested stakeholders currently are seeking information about the comparative effectiveness of different regulatory approaches to minimising gambling-related harm. This study responds to this research gap by exploring associations between gambling policies and disordered gambling prevalence rates. We gathered information about gambling policies for thirty European jurisdictions and past-year prevalence rates for disordered gambling for twelve of these jurisdictions. We present policy trends and prevalence rates and then describe the level of association between policy and prevalence. We observe one statistically significant association between policy and prevalence: rates of sub-clinical (i.e., Level 2) disordered gambling were higher within environments that mandated less strict regulation of advertising for online gambling. Finally, we discuss the implications of our research in the context of the current process regarding the pan-European regulation of gambling. Our findings do not offer evidence for certain assumptions made in the past by the European judiciary.     

NORMALIZATION AND LEGITIMATION: MODELING STIGMATIZING ATTITUDES TOWARD EX-OFFENDERS*

Successful community reentry and the criminological impact of incarceration may depend in part on the attitudes (and consequent reactions) that prisoners encounter after release. Theories of social stigma suggest that such attitudes depend, in turn, on the levels of familiarity with the stigmatized group (the normalization thesis) as well as on the credibility and trust they accord to sanctioning agents (the legitimation thesis). To assess these two hypotheses, we present the first multivariate analysis of public attitudes toward ex-offenders. Data from a four-state, random-digit telephone survey of more than 2,000 individuals indicate that, net of controls, personal familiarity with ex-offenders may soften attitudes, whereas confidence in the courts may harden them. As expected, non-Hispanic Whites, conservatives, and southern residents hold more negative views of ex-offenders. Our findings lend indirect support to concerns that incarceration is becoming “normalized”, and we suggest strategies for reducing the stigma of incarceration.     

Drunk and dangerous: a randomised controlled trial of alcohol brief intervention for violent offenders

To assess the effectiveness of an alcohol brief intervention administered to violent offenders in a judicial (Magistrates’ court) setting, a randomised controlled trial was conducted. Participants (n = 269) were men aged 16–35 years, who resided within a 30-mile radius of Cardiff, UK, and who had been sentenced for a violent offence committed whilst intoxicated with alcohol. Recruitment occurred on-site. Participants were randomly allocated to receive an alcohol brief intervention (n = 135) or to a control group (n = 134). Objective measures comprised re-offending and injury rates. Self-reported outcome measures comprised Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT); number of drinking days in the past 3 months; total weekly standard units of alcohol; and stage of change with respect to alcohol consumption (as measured by the Readiness to Change Questionnaire). Participants were followed up 3 months (n = 234; 87%) and 12 months (n = 202; 75.1%) after sentence. No significant between-group differences were observed in any of the alcohol measures or in re-offending. Injury was significantly less likely in offenders who had received the intervention (27.4%) than those who had not [39.6%; 95% confidence interval (CI) = −0.23, −0.009]. At 3-month follow-up, significantly more participants in the intervention group (31%; n = 37) than control group (16%; n = 18) demonstrated an increase in their readiness to change drinking behaviour (χ² = 8.56; df = 2; P = 0.014), but this did not persist at 12-month follow-up.

Effectiveness of a risk–need–responsivity‐based treatment program for violent and sexual offenders: Results of a retrospective,quasi‐experimental study

Purpose

Relapse prevention is an important goal in correctional settings. Although there is strong evidence for the effectiveness of certain treatment programs for juvenile offenders, those for adults lack such evidence. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a risk–need–responsivity (RNR)‐based intervention.

Methods

A quasi‐experimental, observational study design and cox regression analysis were used to compare treated violent and sexual offenders (n = 171) with untreated offenders (n = 241).

Results

Both groups were observed for an average of 7.9 years. Recidivism rates of treated offenders (11.7%, n = 20) were similar to those of control offenders (15.8%, n = 38; p = .25). When controlling for confounding variables, the hazard of recidivism in the treatment group was 5.2% lower than that in the control group. Subdividing the treatment group resulted in lower hazard ratios for offenders still in therapy when released and offenders cancelling therapy. However, none of the group differences was statistically significant.

Conclusion

Our results show that control and RNR‐based treatment groups had comparable recidivism rates with a trend towards a positive treatment effect, especially for people in outpatient treatment. However, criminal history, age at the start of follow‐up, and actuarial risk of recidivism were significantly associated with recidivism. Future research needs to apply elaborate methodological approaches to detect robust treatment effects and consider different criteria of treatment effectiveness. Furthermore, the influence of prison climate, motivational factors, intervention quality, and factors supporting the success of outpatient treatment should be considered in future studies of larger offender samples.     

Outcomes from Referring Batterer Program Participants to Mental Health Treatment

A quasi-experimental study was conducted to investigate the impact of referral to supplemental mental health treatment for batterer program participants who screened positive for mental health problems. The principal outcome measure was re-assault reported during a periodic 12-month follow-up with female partners (n = 308). Batterer program completion and other abuse indicators were also considered. Mandatory court referral to mental health treatment produced no significant improvement in batterer program completion, re-assault and other abuse indicators. These results may be influenced by the low compliance to the referral, since the select number of men who did comply with a mental health evaluation (n = 48 of 148) and those who received treatment (n = 28 of 148) did better than those who did not. Simplified referral procedures or integrated treatment services might prove to be a more effective approach.

Reactions to Crime as a Hierarchy Regulating Strategy: The Moderating Role of Social Dominance Orientation

Across two studies, we demonstrated that support for group-based hierarchies differentially affects evaluation of ingroup and outgroup criminal offenders and that this effect generalizes to overall evaluations of their respective groups. Drawing on social dominance theory, our results show that differential judgments of national ingroup and immigrant outgroup offenders reflect hierarchy regulating strategies. Study 1 (N = 94) revealed that egalitarians (low on SDO) were more lenient toward outgroup offenders and their ethnic group (Arab immigrants) when compared to ingroup offenders and their national group (Swiss citizens). The opposite was true for social dominators (high on SDO). Study 2 (N = 88) replicated the results of Study 1 and further demonstrated that the socio-economic status of the perpetrator did not affect perpetrator group evaluations suggesting that the arbitrary sets of ethnicity or nationality, not education level and employment status, were the important cues for hierarchy-regulating judgments of criminal offenders.     

Criminal Recidivism After Forensic Psychiatric Treatment. A Multicenter Study on the Role of Pretreatment,Treatment-Related,and Follow-Up Variables

This study examined associations between criminal recidivism after discharge from forensic treatment and variables related to either the time before the current forensic treatment, or the current forensic treatment, or the follow-up after discharge. Participants were treated in 12 forensic clinics according to section 63 of the German penal code. A patient was classified as a criminal recidivist when the patient or the aftercare reported that the patient was delinquent at follow-up. Patients without criminal recidivism were patients for which both perspectives (patient and aftercare) reported no delinquency at follow-up. Mann–Whitney U-tests and Fisher's exact tests were performed. Data to classify patients were available for N = 249 patients. Fifteen patients (6%) were classified as criminal recidivists. The follow-up was M = 12.58 (SD = 1.84) months, and the criminal acts occurred M = 6.00 (SD = 5.55) months after discharge. Differences between patients with and without criminal recidivism were found in pretreatment (young age at first crime, early onset of mental disorder, previous forensic treatments), treatment-related (disorder due to psychoactive substance use, gradual release abuses, outbreaks, assaults against staff, criminal act during treatment, type of discharge, outcome ratings), as well as follow-up variables (no specified housing situation, not being abstinent from psychoactive substances, inpatient readmission, course of outpatient treatment, course of mental disorder) (all p < 0.05). To conclude, it is important to consider variables related to the time before the current treatment, treatment-related variables, and variables related to the follow-up to identify the patients at risk of criminal recidivism after discharge from forensic treatment.     

Internet gambling: Community flop or the Texas Hold'em poker rules1

Transformed by technology, the virtualisation of gambling has prompted administrations around the world to respond swiftly to the challenges posed by the new way of carrying out an age-old practice. However, approaches to regulation differ. Within the USA online gambling is prohibited by the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act 31 U.S.C. 5361-5367 (enacted in the USA in October 2006). This has been played out by the threats of extradition and arrests of senior executives in Texas and ultimately imprisonment for criminal infringements in among other places Las Vegas. By contrast the UK has implemented a regulatory regime through the Gambling Act 2005. The European Community has provided a regime somewhere between the two following recent European Court of Justice decisions (Plancanica 2 CMLR 25) finding against Member States operating state monopolies preventing the establishment of private providers in this specific sphere of commercial activity, contrary to Article 43TEC (right of establishment) and Article 49TEC (the right to provide services, this will of course also have the corollary of the right to receive services). The appropriateness of these responses leads the commentators back towards embryonic Internet governance discussions on cyber-paternalism and cyber-liberalism with online gambling as the case study.     

Traumatic Brain Injury among Indiana State Prisoners

Research on traumatic brain injury among inmates has focused on comparing the rate of traumatic brain injury among offenders to the general population, but also how best to screen for traumatic brain injury among this population. This study administered the short version of the Ohio State University Traumatic Brain Injury Identification Method to all male inmates admitted into Indiana state prisons were screened for a month (N = 831). Results indicate that 35.7% of the inmates reported experiencing a traumatic brain injury during their lifetime and that these inmates were more likely to have a psychiatric disorder and a prior period of incarceration than those without. Logistic regression analysis finds that a traumatic brain injury predicts the likelihood of prior incarceration net of age, race, education, and psychiatric disorder. This study suggests that brief instruments can be successfully implemented into prison screenings to help divert inmates into needed treatment.     

Differentiating Between Generally and Partner-Only Violent Subgroups: Lifetime Antisocial Behavior,Family of Origin Violence,and Impulsivity

The present study examined self-reported lifetime antisocial behavior, family of origin violence, and impulsivity/behavioral disinhibition of 73 men entering treatment for partner violence. Participants were designated as generally violent (GV) (n = 46) or partner only violent (n = 27), based on self-reported violence against non-intimate individuals during the year prior to intake. As hypothesized, GV men reported more conduct disorder/delinquent behaviors, lifetime antisocial behaviors, and family of origin violence. The GV men also reported more behavioral disinhibition, however, group differences on impulsivity only approached statistical significance. In addition, as hypothesized, GV men reported they were more psychologically abusive toward their intimate partners. However, contrary to expectations, the subgroups did not differ on reports of physical violence toward their partners. This study employed a fairly simple technique of dividing men into groups based on self-reports of violence over the past year, thereby producing subgroups that differed on a number of important characteristics that may have implications for treatment. An advantage of this technique is that it would be relatively easy for other treatment programs to apply.

South African regulation of online casinos licensed in a foreign jurisdiction

Advances in technology brought about new popular gambling activities such as online gambling (sometimes called trans-border e-gaming) in South Africa and abroad, demand new regulatory structures since the current laws on gambling do not have provisions for online gambling. This article addresses the legality of engaging in online gambling within the South African borders by casino operators who are licensed in a foreign jurisdiction, giving rise to the issue of determining the place where the act of gambling takes place between a player who is in South Africa while engaging on the Internet with a server in another country. Although this article deals with the South African perspective, realizing that South Africa is a developing country and the law relating to the Internet might be behind, a reference to the online gambling law of United States (US) is made to showcase a need for attention to regulate online gambling in both developing and developed countries.     

Psychopathy among condemned capital murderers

Psychopathy is an important forensic mental health construct. Despite this importance, the research base of psychopathy among individuals convicted of capital murder is limited. Archival data were collected from a sample of 636 persons convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in the State of California. Psychopathy was assessed using the Psychopathy Checklist – Revised (PCL-R) instrument. Data on criminal careers and other behavioral disorders were also extracted. The sample mean PCL-R total score was 23.31 (SD = 9.92) and one-third of individuals in this sample were considered clinically psychopathic with PCL-R total scores of 30 or greater. Factor analytic examination yielded support for four facets: affective, interpersonal, lifestyle, and antisocial. Criterion validity findings revealed positive correlations of psychopathy scores with Antisocial Personality Disorder (ρ = 0.72), Conduct Disorder (ρ = 0.46), sexual sadism (ρ = 0.24), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ρ = 0.20), ADHD (ρ = 0.15), arrest charges (r = 0.56), prison sentences (r = 0.53), and age of arrest onset (r = −0.57). Individuals convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death reflect heterogeneity in psychopathy with some individuals exhibiting pronounced psychopathic features.     

Error Rates,Likelihood Ratios,and Jury Evaluation of Forensic Evidence

Forensic examiners regularly testify in criminal cases, informing the jurors whether crime scene evidence likely came from a source. In this study, we examine the impact of providing jurors with testimony further qualified by error rates and likelihood ratios, for expert testimony concerning two forensic disciplines: commonly used fingerprint comparison evidence and a novel technique involving voice comparison. Our method involved surveying mock jurors in Amazon Mechanical Turk (N = 897 laypeople) using written testimony and judicial instructions. Participants were more skeptical of voice analysis and generated fewer “guilty” decisions than for fingerprint analysis (B = 2.00, OR = 7.06, p = <0.000). We found that error rate information most strongly decreased “guilty” votes relative to no qualifying information for participants who heard fingerprint evidence (but not those that heard voice analysis evidence; B = −1.16, OR = 0.32, p = 0.007). We also found that error rates and conclusion types led to a greater decrease on “guilty” votes for fingerprint evidence than voice evidence (B = 1.44, OR = 4.23, p = 0.021). We conclude that these results suggest jurors adjust the weight placed on forensic evidence depending on their prior views about its reliability. Future research should develop testimony and judicial instructions that can better inform jurors of the strengths and limitations of forensic evidence.     

Peer Reactions,Peer Behavior,Student Attitudes,and Student Deviance: a Comparison of College Students in Japan and the USA

This study presents evidence on the cross-cultural generalizability of differential association/social learning theory by testing whether the causal processes of learning attitudes toward deviance, posited by the theory, are equally applicable, and the causal links, specified by the theory, are equally strong in two diverse cultures—the USA and Japan. Drawing on the literature concerning cultural variability in individualism-collectivism, we predicted that the effects of peer reactions to deviance and peer deviance on a person’s attitudes toward deviance should be stronger in Japan than in the USA, and that the mediating effect of a person’s attitudes on the relationship of peer reactions and peer deviance to a person’s deviance should be weaker among Japanese than among Americans. Analyses of comparable survey data from college students in the USA (N?=?625) and Japan (N?=?591) provide generally supportive, but somewhat mixed, evidence regarding our predictions. In both countries, peer reactions to deviance predicted student attitudes toward deviance more strongly than did peer deviance. Peer deviance strongly predicted student deviance, while peer reactions to deviance predicted less strongly, and the effects were mediated by student attitudes in both countries. Contrary to the hypotheses, peer reactions and peer deviance did not predict student attitudes more strongly in Japan than in the USA. Also, peer deviance predicted student deviance more strongly in the USA than in Japan. In agreement with the expectations, the relation between student attitudes and student deviance was stronger in the USA than in Japan.

     

University student beliefs about sexual violence in prison: rape myth acceptance,punitiveness, and empathy

Abstract

The public desires more punitive sentencing for sex offenders; however, treatment has been shown to be most effective in increasing public safety. It has been suggested that public education about the benefits of sex offender treatment could influence public policy. The purpose of this study was to determine if a brief psychoeducational intervention could influence individuals’ attitudes towards the treatment of sex offenders. Overall, findings showed that a psychoeducational intervention can affect subsequent attitudes; furthermore, the nature of the intervention will be significant in determining the level of attitude change.     

Ancestry Assessment Using Random Forest Modeling, ,

A skeletal assessment of ancestry relies on morphoscopic traits and skeletal measurements. Using a sample of American Black (n = 38), American White (n = 39), and Southwest Hispanics (n = 72), the present study investigates whether these data provide similar biological information and combines both data types into a single classification using a random forest model (RFM). Our results indicate that both data types provide similar information concerning the relationships among population groups. Also, by combining both in an RFM, the correct allocation of ancestry for an unknown cranium increases. The distribution of cross‐validated grouped cases correctly classified using discriminant analyses and RFMs ranges between 75.4% (discriminant function analysis, morphoscopic data only) and 89.6% (RFM). Unlike the traditional, experience‐based approach using morphoscopic traits, the inclusion of both data types in a single analysis is a quantifiable approach accounting for more variation within and between groups, reducing misclassification rates, and capturing aspects of cranial shape, size, and morphology.     

Distribution of Venlafaxine,O‐desmethylvenlafaxine,and O‐desmethylvenlafaxine to Venlafaxine Ratio in Postmortem Human Brain Tissue

Venlafaxine (VEN) and its metabolite O‐desmethylvenlafaxine (ODV) inhibit reuptake of serotonin and norepinephrine. This study examines whether VEN is differentially distributed in postmortem brain and examines relationships between brain and femoral blood concentrations from donors prescribed VEN for treatment of depression. Using high‐pressure liquid chromatography‐ultraviolet detection, VEN and ODV concentrations were measured in temporal, occipital, and cerebellar cortex of six postmortem brains. The ODV/VEN ratio was calculated as a relative measure of drug metabolism within each region where higher ratios indicated a greater conversion of VEN to ODV. Compared to the other regions examined, the cerebellum showed decreased VEN (p = 0.056), ODV (p = 0.006), and ODV/VEN (p = 0.027) ratios. In parts per million, VEN was higher in temporal and occipital cortex, but not cerebellum, as compared to femoral blood concentration. These observations suggest that VEN and ODV are differentially distributed in the brain, and metabolism of VEN to ODV may vary across brain regions.