Psychopathy and Female Gender: Phenotypic Expression and Comorbidity; A Study Comparing a Sample of Women Hospitalized in Italy's Maximum Security Facility with Women Who were Criminally Sentenced and Imprisoned,

Various studies have shown that women with psychopathy tend to commit crimes that are less violent than those of psychopathic men. The present study was designed to address the influence of psychopathy on the crimes committed by female offenders. A national sample of female offenders found NGRI or of diminished responsibility and at risk for criminal recidivism (OPG patients) was compared with a sample of female offenders who were convicted and imprisoned. Results of this comparison between the two groups of female offenders indicate that psychopathy is a transversal psychopathological dimension which may or may not be associated with other mental disorders. In both samples, the most commonly reported offenses among women with high PCL‐R scores were minor offenses, not particularly violent, but they appear to be related to typical psychopathic features such as superficial charm, pathological lying, and manipulation.     

Not Just a Boy's Club

Abstract

The extant literature suggests that habitual criminality among women is rare and that female career criminals are ostensibly nonexistent. Using the criminal records of 500 male and female adult recidivists, this study applies the concept of career criminality to women and describes how this application has specific gendered elements. Like their male peers, women are chronic, versatile offenders engaged in violent, property, and public-order offending. Women are disproportionately engaged in forgery, fraud, and prostitution whereas men are disproportionately engaged in rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. No gender differences existed for a variety of additional offenses and criminal justice system statuses. However, significant gender differences exist for social demographic characteristics, such as age and timing of onset, and criminal career parameter indicators, such as span of criminal career. These data and analyses indicate that the career criminal classification has important implications for criminal career research and gender-based criminology.     

Risk factors for violent offending in autism spectrum disorder: a national study of hospitalized individuals

Little is known about risk factors for violence among individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study uses data from Swedish longitudinal registers for all 422 individuals hospitalized with autistic disorder or Asperger syndrome during 1988-2000 and compares those committing violent or sexual offenses with those who did not. Thirty-one individuals with ASD (7%) were convicted of violent nonsexual crimes and two of sexual offenses. Violent individuals with ASD are more often male and diagnosed with Asperger syndrome rather than autistic disorder. Furthermore, comorbid psychotic and substance use disorders are associated with violent offending. We conclude that violent offending in ASD is related to similar co-occurring psychopathology as previously found among violent individuals without ASD. Although this study does not answer whether ASDs are associated with increased risk of violent offending compared with the general population, careful risk assessment and management may be indicated for some individuals with Asperger syndrome.     

Prevalence of women's violent and nonviolent offending behavior: a comparison of self-reports, victims' reports, and third-party reports

This study assessed women's violent and nonviolent offending, using data from two online student samples (men and women: n = 344), reporting on either being a perpetrator and witness (women) or being a victim and witness (men). A comprehensive measure of general violence, intimate partner violence (IPV), and nonviolent offending was collected. From women's self-reports, 59.9% reported perpetrating general violent offenses, 58.1% reported perpetrating IPV offenses and 85.6% reported perpetrating nonviolent offenses. Correlations showed that women were involved in a variety of offenses and demonstrated the interrelatedness of general violence and IPV, and of violent and nonviolent offenses. Regression analysis confirmed the close association between partner and general violence, and found that drug offenses were also related to the former and criminal damage to the latter. Overall, the prevalence data demonstrated women's involvement in all types of offending, and a similar pattern of offending was supported across data sources. Limitations of the sampling method and measures are discussed.     

Violent women: a multicentre study into gender differences in forensic psychiatric patients

To gain insight into the relatively small, but increasing group of women in forensic psychiatry, a retrospective multicentre study was started gathering information from the files of 275 female patients of four Dutch forensic psychiatric hospitals on characteristics and violence risk factors. Overall, a picture emerged of severely traumatized women with complex psychopathology with multiple previous treatment failures and many incidents during treatment. The present study investigates specific psychiatric and criminal characteristics of female patients by comparing their data to those of 275 male forensic psychiatric patients. Various prominent differences were found, for example, women had more complex histories of victimization, were more often diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, were more likely to commit homicide and arson and less likely to commit sexual offenses, and were more often involved in inpatient aggression than their male counterparts. Several recommendations for gender-responsive treatment and directions for future research are provided.     

Female criminality in modern Egypt: A general outlook

While interest in women criminality in Egypt goes back to the turn of the century, academic concern for studying female offenders appeared several decades later. Early studies on Egyptian women inmates have revealed several characteristics that were confirmed in more recent studies. The typical female offender in Egypt tends to be urbanite, poor, middleaged, married, illiterate, unemployed, and instigated by male associates. Women are more likely to be involved in crimes of morality and drug trafficking while men are disproportionally convicted for both property and violent offenses. The family milieu and social environment play a major part in female delinquency. There is some evidence that women who assume the male role get more involved with law violation.     

Females' initiation into violent street crime

The present study is concerned with understanding when and how women become involved in violent street crime. Specifically, the study explores the correlates or explanatory factors of such offending in a sample of women arrested and/or incarcerated for violent street crimes in New York City. The findings suggest that an adequate understanding of female offending must consider the impact of neighborhood, peer, and addiction factors which affect both males' and females' participation in criminal violence. In addition, different configurations of these factors appear to contribute to the initiation of violent offending, depending on the age of onset. Early initiation into violent crime was accompanied by participation in a wide variety of other offending behaviors and deviant lifestyles. In contrast, those women who began their violent offending later did so in the context of a criminal career which, until the beginning of substance abuse, was more specialized and focused on typically nonviolent, gender-congruent activities (e.g., prostitution, shoplifting).     

Are the same factors related to participation and frequency of offending by male and female prisoners?

Abstract

This paper is the first to compare correlates of participation and frequency of violent and property offending by male and female offenders. The criminal career approach suggests that different features of criminal careers may have different correlates and predictors, whereas Gottfredson and Hirschi argued that all criminal career features have the same correlates and predictors. This paper investigates how much 24 explanatory constructs, derived from social learning, labelling and personality theories, were related to participation and frequency of offending. Samples of 118 male prisoners and 93 female prisoners in Trinidad were interviewed to determine whether they participated in violent and property crimes and the frequency with which they committed these crimes. The results showed that these theoretical constructs (especially labelling) were much more related to participation than to frequency, but they were similarly related to violent and property offending. They were similarly related to male and female frequency but not to male and female participation in offending. In general, different factors influenced participation and frequency, although impulsivity was related to both for males and females. It is concluded that existing theories need to be improved to explain the frequency of offending.     

Forensic psychiatric inpatients and aggression: An exploration of incidence,prevalence, severity,and interventions by gender

BackgroundPrevious investigations suggest that women judged to be not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (NCR-MD) differ markedly from their male counterparts in important ways, underscoring the necessity of subsequent study.ObjectiveThe goal of the present study was to inform our understanding of the presenting profile of female forensic psychiatric patients and contrast their risk of inpatient aggression with their male counterparts.MethodThe population of patients assessed and/or treated at a secure Canadian forensic psychiatric hospital were available for study. In total, 527 patients had complete data and were part of intensive retrospective file reviews; inpatient aggression was evaluated using the Overt Aggression Scale.ResultsWomen were no less likely than men to have a violent index offence and to perpetrate inpatient aggression. Examining the range of aggressive behaviours and severity levels did little to increase the relevance of gender to inpatient risk.DiscussionFemale forensic patients represent a highly selected subgroup of women with exceptional clinical and behavioural challenges and associated treatment needs.     

Nonsex offenses committed by child molesters: findings from a longitudinal study

This study, which used a prospective as well as a retrospective methodology, examined the criminal records of 30 child molesters prior to, and up to 10 years after an index event of sexual abuse for which they were convicted: 73% had convictions for other offenses, 60% had convictions for offenses other than sex offenses, 50% had convictions for property offenses, 27% had convictions for offenses involving violence, and 23% had convictions for drug offenses. Offending levels for nonsex offenses were significantly higher than the general adult male population. Any theory concerning the dynamics of sex offending against children needs to account for the level of nonsex offenses committed by child molesters.     

Specialized Versus Versatile Intergenerational Transmission of Violence: A New Approach to Studying Intergenerational Transmission from Violent Versus Non-Violent Fathers: Latent Class Analysis

This paper investigates whether fathers who have been convicted of a violent offense transmit criminal and violent behavior more strongly than fathers who were convicted, but never for violence. First, a more traditional approach was taken where offending fathers were divided into two groups based on whether they had a violence conviction. Secondly, Latent Class Analysis (LCA) was performed to identify two classes of fathers, one of which was characterized as violent. Sons of fathers in this class had a higher risk of violent convictions compared with sons whose fathers were in the other class.     

Characteristics of mentally retarded criminal offenders in Northern Taiwan

The characteristics and criminal behavior in mentally retarded individuals remain largely unstudied. This retrospective study sought to establish a set of reference of criminal behavior characteristics in an ethnic Chinese mentally retarded group. Data were collected from forensic psychiatric evaluation of 32 mentally retarded offenders. Of the 32 offenders, only four (12.5%) cases were female. Mean age at the time of the offenses was 31. By IQ testing, 23 (71.9%) of the group fell into the mild mental retardation range, seven (21.9%) into the moderate mental retardation range, and two (6.2%) into the severe mental retardation range. Nineteen (59.3%) of the group also suffered from additional mental disorder. Eight (25%) had definite neurological deficit. Fourteen (43.8%) were repeat offenders. A total of 24 (75%) of the offenders had committed crimes against property, with 13 having committed petty theft. Furthermore, the pattern of offending shows differences from that of the general population or other mental disorders. The property offenses, especially petty theft and arson, were frequently seen. There was no noteworthy above average frequency of sexual offenses.     

VARIATION IN TRIAL PENALTIES AMONG SERIOUS VIOLENT OFFENSES*

We examine the differences in the sentencing of those who plead guilty and those convicted by jury trial among defendants convicted of serious violent offenses. Drawing from a focal concerns and court communities perspective on court decision making, we develop several hypotheses about jury trial penalties for serious violent offenders, and how such penalties may vary by offense characteristics, defendant characteristics, and court contexts. Our hierarchical models using Pennsylvania sentencing data from 1997 to 2000 reveal that defendants are substantially penalized if they exercise their right to a jury trial and then lose. Furthermore, this jury trial penalty is not evenly assessed, but depends on the seriousness and type of offense, defendant criminal history, and court contextual characteristics such as caseload, court community size, local violent crime rates, and the size of local black populations.     

Comparing Women and Men Arrested for Domestic Violence: A Preliminary Report

This study uses criminal justice data to compare women and men arrested for domestic violence on their levels of violence, reported victimization, general criminality, and substance abuse. Participants were 45 women and 45 men convicted of domestic violence between 1996 and 1998. Results indicate that women were less likely than men to have a history of domestic violence offenses and nonviolent crimes. They were also more likely to report that they had been injured or victimized by their partner at the time of their arrest. However, in other ways, women and men were similar: they were equally likely to have used severe violence and inflicted severe injuries on their victims; to have previously committed violence against nonintimates; and to have been using drugs or alcohol at the time of their arrest. The implications for treatment for women arrested for domestic violence are discussed.     

Young women and gang violence: Gender,street offending,and violent victimization in gangs

Drawing on multiple data sources in St. Louis, this article examines how gendered situational dynamics shape gang violence, including participation in violent offending and experiences of violent victimization. Combining an analysis of in-depth interviews with young women in St. Louis gangs with an examination of homicide reports from the same city, we find that young women, even regular offenders, highlight the significance of gender in shaping and limiting their involvement in serious violence. They use gender both to accomplish their criminal activities and to temper their involvement in gang crime. Consequently their risk for serious physical victimization in gangs is considerably less than young men's. St. Louis homicide data collaborate these qualitative findings. Not only are young women much less likely to be the victims of gang homicide, but the vast majority of female gang homicide victims were not the intended targets of the attack. In contrast, homicide reports suggest that the majority of male gang homicide victims were the intended targets. We suggest that gendered group processes and stratification within gangs are key factors explaining both violent offending and victimization risk in gangs.     

Comparing females acquitted by reason of insanity,convicted, and civilly committed in Florida 1977–1984

Females who had been acquitted by reason of insanity (N=41), convicted of comparable offenses (N=41), and involuntarily hospitalized without criminal involvement (N=41) were matched for age and race. The psychiatric histories of the acquitted and civilly committed women were similar, and significantly more extensive than the convicted group. The acquitted women had been arrested significantly more often than the civilly committed women but less frequently than the convicted women. Total length of stay (hospitalization or imprisonment) reflected a similar pattern, with civilly commited women hospitalized for the shortest period, acauitted women an intermediate period, and convicted women the longest. Regression-based prediction of length of stay reflected a number of common predictors for the acquitted and convicted women, with offense type one of the most powerful for both groups.     

Self-Reported and Official Offending from Age 10 to Age 56

In the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development, over 400 London males have been followed up from age 8 to age 48 in face-to-face interviews and up to age 56 in criminal records. About 42 % of the males were convicted up to age 56. During five age ranges up to age 47, 94 % of the males admitted at least one of eight offenses, in comparison with 31 % who were convicted for at least one of these offenses in these age ranges. The prevalence of offending, and the number of offenses committed, decreased steadily after age 18 according to both convictions and self-reports. On average, there were 38 self-reported offenses per conviction, and this ratio also decreased with age. Convicted males self-reported 25 offenses per conviction on average. It is concluded that the “scaling-up factor” from convictions to self-reported offenses is very important, especially in evaluating the effectiveness of intervention programs.     

Self-serving aspects of social cognition among adult offenders

Abstract

The different cognitive beliefs about offending exhibited by offenders are discussed. The question addressed in this paper concerns the extent to which beliefs and social knowledge about offending differentiate between different characteristic types of offending (drug abuse, theft, sexual and violent). Two hundred and ninety adult male prisoners in four Taiwanese prisons provided self-reported criminal histories. From these a crime index indicative of the proportion of offences of each type (or specialism in offending) was calculated for each offender. Offenders legitimize their own offending while they tend to regard the offences of others negatively. In this way, cognitive representations may reinforce an offender's specific pattern of criminal acts while also insulating them from pressures towards other criminal activities. Evidence is presented that offenders' social knowledge development is consolidated around crime themes.     

Long-term follow-up of criminal recidivism in young sex offenders: Temporal patterns and risk factors

Abstract

Recent studies indicate that risk for criminal re-offending in identified adult sex offenders may persist decades after the index offence, calling for inquiry into these issues also for younger sex offenders. The author studied temporal patterns for criminal reconvictions and the validity of 16 empirically motivated risk factors for recidivism among all young sex offenders (15–20 years of age) subjected to pre-sentence forensic psychiatric evaluations in Sweden during 1980–1995 (N = 126). The Ss were followed from release and for an average of 115 months. One-hundred-and-seventeen (115 male, 2 female) Ss were available for follow-up with a mean time-at-risk of 80 months. Base rates for sexual and violent non-sexual reconvictions were 30% and 42%, respectively. Using time-at-risk-adjusted hazard ratios derived from Cox regression, characteristics indicative of deviant sexual interest (any previous sex offending behaviour, an index sex offence in a public area, involving a stranger victim, offending on two or more offence occasions, and two or more victims) were found to increase the risk for sexual recidivism. Markers of antisocial lifestyle (early signs of DSM-IV Conduct Disorder and any prior violent conviction), sex offence-related characteristics indicating aggression proneness (use of threats or force and physical victim injury), and victim penetration, increased the risk for violent non-sexual reconvictions. Survival analyses indicated that the rate of sexual reconvictions as a function of time at risk decreased distinctly after 6–7 years whereas the rate for violent non-sexual reconvictions remained largely the same.     

Patterns of prior offending by child abductors: A comparison of fatal and non-fatal outcomes

Our study examines the prior offending of 750 individuals who are known to be responsible for the abduction of a child under the age of 18 years. The first group comprised of 311 offenders (42%) who had abducted a child that was later located alive (found alive, referred to as FA). The second group was comprised of 439 offenders (58%) who had abducted a child that was either found murdered or was still missing and presumed dead (found murdered, referred to as FM). While males perpetrated the majority of the abductions, women perpetrated 31 (10%) of the offenses in the FA group and 10 (2%) of the offenses in the FM group. The average number of prior offenses as reflected in the NCIC criminal history of each offender was seven with these occurring over an average of 12 years. Seventy-five percent of the offenders had prior arrests for an assortment of different crimes while 25% had no known criminal history, a finding that was consistent across both the FA and FM groups. Of those with a criminal history, 41% had been arrested for assault, 40% for larceny, 35% for burglary/breaking and entering, 33% for forcible sex offenses, 25% for drug/narcotic offenses, 21% for weapons law violations, 17% for motor vehicle thefts, 15% for robbery, and 14% for kidnapping. Our findings are congruent with the theme of criminal diversity among child abductors and argue against the specificity in offending that is often assumed with this type of sexual offender. This information is relevant to our understanding of the progression in criminal offending that is manifested by offenders who abduct children and will hopefully be used by law enforcement in helping to direct and focus their investigations.