On intelligence and crime: a comparison of incarcerated sex offenders and serious non-sexual violent criminals

The impact of low IQ on crime has been a focus of debate for several decades now. Although sociologists have virtually removed it from the list of possible factors influencing crime, the impact of IQ on crime continues to generate a significant amount of scientific research and a substantial number of publications. The purpose of this study is to assess intellectual levels and to compare two groups of incarcerated criminals. Using MANCOVA and ANCOVA procedures, 261 sex offenders and 150 non-sexual violent criminals were compared on IQ subscales. The results show significant differences on vocabulary, comprehension, arithmetic, mental math computations, object assembly, letter-number sequencing, and perception subscales, as well as on performance IQ and total IQ. The impacts of penal filtering and sample composition are hypothesized to explain differences between the two subgroups. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Teamwork in health care and medical malpractice liability: an experimental investigation

European Journal of Law and Economics - The treatment of a patient often implies consultations with different health care professionals. This complex health care pathway raises the issue of the...     

Homicide-suicide and other violent deaths: an international comparison

Homicides followed by the suicide of the perpetrator constitute a serious form of interpersonal violence. Until now no study has directly compared homicide-suicides to other violent deaths from multiple countries, allowing for a better understanding of the nature of these violent acts. Using country-specific data, this study describes and compares the incidence and patterns of homicide-suicide as well as the relationship between homicide-suicide, homicide, suicide and domestic homicide in the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States. The results indicate that cross-nationally, homicide-suicides are more likely than other types of lethal violence to involve a female victim, multiple victims, take place in a residential setting and to be committed by a firearm. Although homicide-suicides display many similarities across the different countries, differences exist regarding age and the use of firearms in the offence. This study indicates that homicides followed by suicides differ from both homicides and suicides in similar ways internationally. Cross-national differences in the availability of firearms may explain the international variation of homicide-suicide rates and patterns.     

Criminal profiles of violent juvenile sex and violent juvenile non sex offenders: an explorative longitudinal study

Few studies have longitudinally investigated the criminal profiles of violent juvenile sex and violent juvenile non-sex offenders. To make up for this lack, this study used police records of juveniles to determine the nature of the criminal profiles of violent sex offenders (n = 226) and violent non-sex offenders (n = 4,130). All offenders committed their first offense in 1996 and were followed for 7 years. Results showed that violent sex offenders and violent non-sex offenders cannot be considered a homogeneous group because of different background characteristics and criminal profiles. Sex and violent offenses often constitute a small part of a broader criminal pattern. Further research is necessary to reveal in more detail the developmental and criminological patterns of violent and sexual delinquency. Treatment and intervention programs may benefit from this.     

Medical criminals: Physicians and white-collar offenses

Lawbreaking by professionals remains an understudied area in the field of white-collar crime. This article presents a review of crime in the practice of medicine, focusing on the misdeeds of physicians. The role of physician power in producing such acts is analyzed from both historical and theoretical perspectives, and a brief inventory of forms of medical wrongdoing is presented. The article also considers the ways in which formal medical training can influence later wrongdoing, and discusses issues related to the control of medical crime.     

Psychopathy,intelligence and emotional responding in a non-forensic sample: an experimental investigation

This study examined the relationships between psychopathy (primary and secondary), intelligence and emotional responding in a sample of 50 university students, using a task measuring autonomic responses to 40 pictorial stimuli (20 neutral and 20 emotionally provoking). Results indicated no significant direct relationship between primary or secondary psychopathy and emotional response, or primary or secondary psychopathy and intelligence. However, a significant moderating effect of intelligence on the association between both psychopathy factors and emotional response was observed, indicating those scoring higher on psychopathy but with lower intelligence portray the expected emotional responses to the affective stimuli (primary: β?=??.56, p?β?=?.80, p?<?.001). These findings indicate abnormal reactivity to emotional stimuli in lower intelligence, higher psychopathic individuals, and suggest differing roles for the two facets of psychopathy in affective responsiveness deviations.     

The impact of victim provocation on judgments of legal responsibility: An experimental assessment

This study examines the effects of victim provocation on judgments of the legal responsibility for a homicide. Previous research and various legal rulings suggest that victim provocation is related to judicial decision-making. However, the magnitude of this relationship has not been assessed.Using a quasi-experimental procedure in which subjects read a case account of a homicide, this study indicates that as victim provocation increases, the level of legal responsibility and the years of imprisonment attributed to the offender decreases. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research in actual judicial decision-making, victim precipitation, and applying an attributional framework to these areas.     

Differentiating between physically violent and nonviolent stalkers: an examination of Canadian cases

This study is one of a few that empirically investigated factors that differentiated the physically violent stalker from the nonviolent stalker. Using discriminant analysis, 103 Canadian cases of "simple obsessional" stalking were examined. Overall, the success of the model for classifying cases into one of two groups was 81%. Results revealed that the physically violent stalker is more likely to: (a) have a stronger previous emotional attachment toward their victim; (b) be more highly fixated/obsessed with their victim; (c) have a higher degree of perceived negative affect towards their victim; (d) engage in more verbal threats toward the victim; and (e) have a history of battering/domestic abuse towards the victim. Overall, the variables that best differentiate the physically violent stalker from the nonviolent one appear to characterize underlying themes of anger, vengeance, emotional arousal, humiliation, projection of blame, and insecure attachment pathology.     

When stereotypes backfire: Trying to suppress stereotypes produces false recollections of a crime

Purpose . This study examined whether participants' memories of a racially neutral crime story are influenced by stereotypes and the instruction to suppress stereotypes while reading the crime story. We expected that participants who saw a photograph of a foreign group (negative stereotype prime) and were given the instruction to suppress stereotypes before reading a crime story would make significantly more stereotype‐consistent errors on a recognition test than participants who received a neutral prime and a suppression instruction. Methods . Participants were 88 undergraduate students (59 women) who were randomly allocated to the cells of a 2 (negative stereotype versus neutral prime)×2 (thought suppression versus control) between‐subjects design. The dependent variables were recognition of accurate items, stereotype‐consistent items and confabulation items. Results . The critical stereotype × suppression interaction was statistically significant for false recognition of non‐presented stereotype‐consistent items. Simple effect analyses of the suppression condition showed that participants who were primed with a negative stereotype made more stereotype‐consistent recognition errors than those who had been exposed to a neutral prime. Conclusions . Stereotypes not only make cognitive processing easier, but might also contribute to recognition errors when people do what they often are told to do in the legal arena: suppress stereotypical thinking.     

Emotions and adjudication: Status degradation among white-collar criminals

White-collar offenders are widely assumed to be especially sensitive to the embarrassment and shame that accompany public conviction for a crime. The idea of special sensitivity, however, is based largely on speculation and anecdotal data. Through an analysis of interviews with 30 convicted white-collar offenders, this paper shows that adjudication generated anger and rage as well as shame and embarrassment in the offenders. Rage and anger have potentially dysfunctional effects in that they undermine commitment to the legitimacy of the law. Following Braithwaite, I argue that a justice system based on disintegrative rather than reintegrative shaming is counterproductive.     

Central nervous system consequences of an unusual body disposal strategy: case report and brief experimental investigation

The body of a 73-year-old man was dismembered by his female companion for the purpose of covert disposal. The method employed included skillful separation of body parts with hacksaw and knife, piecemeal disposal of fragments, and prolonged boiling of the decapitated head. The latter treatment resulted in marked shrinkage of cranial dura mater, separation of dura mater from skull, and extrusion of brain fragments into the resultant enlarged epidural space through a dural defect due to the disproportionately greater shrinkage of dura mater compared to brain parenchyma. This resulted in curd-like brain fragments filling an enlarged epidural space and overlying a shrunken, leathery dura mater. The cranial dura mater, still adherent to the skull base, resembled a "shrunken brain" in contour but contained only the remnants of brain tissue not already extruded through the dural defect. This unusual thermal artifact is rarely illustrated or mentioned in forensic literature. The development of this postmortem artifact likely requires the presence of a specific combination of conditions which must be, but apparently rarely are, simultaneously present.     

Predicting violent behavior in stalkers: a preliminary investigation of Canadian cases in criminal harassment.

This study examined the factors associated with violent/aggressive behavior in stalkers using a sample of 100 Canadian cases of persons charged with criminal harassment (more commonly known as stalking). Results revealed that the typical profile of a "simple obsessional" type of stalker was a middle-aged male, single or separated/estranged, with a history of emotional and/or anger management problems. The most common initial strategies used by the victims to cope with the stalkers were oriented towards legal resources. Initial legal remedies, including court orders or police warnings, seemed to be ineffective as a strategy to stop stalking given that most stalkers chose to ignore them. The study also provided partial support for a preliminary model of predictors of violent/aggressive behavior in stalkers. Stalkers with previous violent behaviors, strong negative emotions. and obsessional tendencies toward the victim may be most at risk of future violent and aggressive acts.     

From child maltreatment to violent offending: an examination of mixed-gender and gender-specific models

Research suggests that child maltreatment predicts juvenile violence, but it is uncertain whether the effects of victimization persist into adulthood or differ across gender. Furthermore, we know little about the mechanisms underlying the victim-perpetrator cycle for males and females. Consequently, this study analyzed associations between child maltreatment and a number of adult measures of violent offending within mixed-gender and gender-specific models. Along with main effects, the study directly tested the moderating effects of gender on the maltreatment-violence link and analyzed theory-informed gender-specific mediators. Data were derived from the Chicago Longitudinal Study, a panel investigation of 1,539 low-income minority participants born in 1979 or 1980. Child welfare, juvenile court, and criminal court records informed the study's explanatory and outcome measures. Prospectively collected covariate and mediator measures originated with parent, teacher, and self-reports along with several administrative sources. Results indicated that child maltreatment, ages 0 to 11, significantly predicted all study indicators of violence in the full sample and most study outcomes in the male and female subsamples. In no instance did gender moderate the maltreatment-violence association. Late childhood/early adolescence environmental instability, childhood externalizing behaviors, and adolescent peer social skills fully mediated the maltreatment-violence nexus among males. Adolescent externalizing behavior partially mediated the relationship of interest among females. Evidence also indicated that internalizing processes protected females who had been maltreated in childhood against perpetrating violence later in life. Implications of results are discussed.     

Parental Alienation Syndrome in Italian legal judgments: an exploratory study

The present study highlights the characteristics of separated families in Italy for whom Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) has been diagnosed during court custody evaluations. The study analyzed the psychological reports of 12 court-appointed expert evaluations of families for whom PAS had been diagnosed. Twelve evaluations that did not receive the PAS diagnosis served as a control group. A specific coding system was used for data analysis. The results indicated that the alienating parents were always the parents who had custody of the children. Children who were diagnosed with PAS were predominantly the only child in the family, had identity problems and manifested manipulative behavior. The consultant in these cases suggested individual psychotherapy for the children and recommended foster care to the Social Services agency.     

Forensic analysis of soil and sediment traces by scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis: an experimental investigation

This paper reports the results of a series of experiments carried out to determine the precision of soil trace comparisons based on elemental peak height ratios determined by energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXRA) in a variable pressure scanning electron microscope (VP-SEM). Experiments were conducted on 'bulk' soil aggregates, ground powders prepared from the <150 microm soil fractions and on smears of both the bulk soil and <150 microm material placed on cotton cloth. X-ray count data were obtained using area scans and spot analyses at different magnifications. The effects on elemental peak height ratios of varying the SEM chamber pressure, beam spot size, emission current and accelerating voltage were also examined. The peak height ratios for oxygen, silicon, aluminium, potassium, calcium and iron were found to show little variation as a function of chamber pressure, spot size and emission current over the ranges examined, but a strong dependency on accelerating voltage was observed. Within-sample variation in results, expressed by the percentage coefficient of variation, was found to be lowest for area scan analyses of the ground <150 microm fractions and greatest for the spot analyses of the bulk soil aggregates and the <150 microm fractions. We conclude that comparison of elemental peak height ratios determined by EDXRA can be a useful tool for rapid screening of soil samples, especially when combined with investigation of other attributes of the soil traces such as colour, fabric and the composition, shapes and surface textures of individual particles or aggregates within the soil traces. If sufficient material is available and can be readily separated without contamination or loss, higher resolution and more precise elemental data should be obtained by methods such as inductively coupled plasma atomic-emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) or mass-spectrometry (ICP-MS).     

Networks, terrorists and criminals: the implications for community policing

This paper addresses both the connections between criminals and terrorists and the potential overlap and meshing of their networks and considers the implications of these intersections for counterterrorism policies and actions. It concludes with a focus on the community and community policing’s role in the disengagement of terrorists from terrorist organizations. While addressing the intersections between terrorists and criminals and the actions they commit, it explores important distinctions between terrorism and criminality, and the implications these distinctions imply for confronting terrorism and criminality within communities and their effect on successful counter terrorism policies and actions.     

Sexually violent predator laws and the liberal state: an ominous threat to individual liberty

No other country has taken the idea of the liberal state - a government that relies on the rule of law to limit state power and maximize individual liberty - as seriously as the United States. But now many states are manipulating the government's civil commitment authority to indefinitely confine sex offenders who have served their criminal sentences and are entitled to their freedom in the community. This new system of preventive detention masquerading as civil commitment poses an ominous threat to individual liberty and to the continued vitality of the liberal state.     

Schizophrenia and violent crime: the experience of parents

Individuals with schizophrenia have an increased risk of committing a violent crime, although their contribution to the overall criminality in society is small. In this qualitative study we have interviewed parents of adult sons, diagnosed with schizophrenia and who recently had been referred to forensic psychiatric treatment due to a violent crime, with an aim to explore the parents' experiences and emotional reactions. Four events, or status passages, emerged as crucial and common for all parents. These were the onset of the mental disorder, the diagnosis of schizophrenia, the violent behaviour/criminality and the recent referral to forensic psychiatric treatment. Every passage evoked strong emotional reactions such as guilt, fear, disappointment, anger and relief, which in return led to different actions taken. Unawareness of the character and severity of their sons' mental illness and the type of violent criminality they had committed were common and complicated contacts both between the parents and their sons, and also between family members and official authorities. The findings emphasize that psychiatric health care professionals must take the initiative and responsibility for information, education and support of family members.