Continuity of aggressive antisocial behavior from childhood to adulthood: The question of phenotype definition

Aiming to clarify the adult phenotype of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), the empirical literature on its childhood background among the disruptive behaviour disorders, such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), conduct disorder (CD), or hyperkinetic conduct disorder (HKCD), was reviewed according to the Robins and Guze criteria for nosological validity. At least half of hyperactive children develop ODD and about a third CD (i.e. AD/HD + CD or HKCD) before puberty. About half of children with this combined problem constellation develop antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) in adulthood. Family and adoption/twin studies indicate that AD/HD and CD share a high heritability and that, in addition, there may be specific environmental effects for criminal behaviours. “Zones of rarity” delineating the disorders from each other, or from the normal variation, have not been identified. Neurophysiology, brain imaging, neurochemistry, neurocognition, or molecular genetics have not provided “external validity” for any of the diagnostic categories used today. Deficient mental functions, such as inattention, poor executive functions, poor verbal learning, and impaired social interaction (empathy), seem to form unspecific susceptibility factors. As none of today's proposed syndromes (e.g. AD/HD or psychopathy) seems to describe a natural category, a dimensional behavioural phenotype reflecting aggressive antisocial behaviours assessed by numbers of behaviours, the severity of their consequences and how early is their age at onset, which will be closely related to childhood hyperactivity, would bring conceptual clarity, and may form the basis for further probing into mental, cognitive, biological and treatment-related co-varying features.     

The Relationship Between Mental Disorders and Types of Crime in Inmates in a Brazilian Prison

This cross‐sectional study conducted in prisons in the city of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, investigated the association between the presence of psychiatric disorders in 462 prisoners and the types of crimes committed by them. Psychiatric diagnosis was obtained by means of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the Mini‐International Neuropsychiatric Interview. A statistically significant association was found between some psychiatric disorders and specific groups of crime: lifelong substance addiction with sex crimes and homicide; antisocial personality disorder with robbery and with kidnapping and extortion; borderline personality disorder with sex crimes; and lifelong alcohol addiction with fraud and conspiracy and with armed robbery and murder. It was concluded that the mental disorders considered more severe (psychosis and bipolar disorder) were not associated with violent crimes, suggesting that the severity of the psychotic disorder may be the factor that has caused psychosis to be associated with violent crimes in previous studies.     

The psychology of linking crimes: A review of the evidence

Purpose . This paper is concerned with case linkage, a form of behavioural analysis used to identify crimes committed by the same offender, through their behavioural similarity. Whilst widely practised, relatively little has been published on the process of linking crimes. This review aims to draw together diverse published studies by outlining what the process involves, critically examining its underlying psychological assumptions and reviewing the empirical research conducted on its viability. Methods . Literature searches were completed on the electronic databases, PsychInfo and Criminal Justice Abstracts, to identify theoretical and empirical papers relating to the practice of linking crimes and to behavioural consistency. Results . The available research gives some support to the assumption of consistency in criminals' behaviour. It also suggests that in comparison with intra‐individual variation in behaviour, inter‐individual variation is sufficient for the offences of one offender to be distinguished from those of other offenders. Thus, the two fundamental assumptions underlying the practice of linking crimes, behavioural consistency and inter‐individual variation, are supported. However, not all behaviours show the same degree of consistency, with behaviours that are less situation‐dependent, and hence more offender‐initiated, showing greater consistency. Conclusions . The limited research regarding linking offenders' crimes appears promising at both a theoretical and an empirical level. There is a clear need, however, for replication studies and for research with various types of crime.     

Explanations for violent behaviour—An interview study among forensic in-patients

The alleged relation between mental disorder and violent criminal behaviour has been investigated mainly from an epidemiological perspective. Population-based registry studies have shown that violence occurs more frequently among people with mental disorders, like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, compared with control subjects, but that the increased risk is largely mediated by drug abuse and socio-economic deprivation. The aim of this study was to explore how patients who have committed violent or sexual crimes and have been sentenced to forensic psychiatric care by a Swedish court of law construed their criminal actions in terms of causes. Forty-six participants from six different Swedish forensic psychiatric clinics were included in the study. A semi-structured interview study was conducted and the data was analysed using a thematic analysis. A large group of the participants did not believe that the mental disorder played any role in the criminal events. Contributing causes that were mentioned were drug abuse and social factors.     

A systematic review of the literature comparing male non-serial sexual killers and sexual aggressors: examining homogeneous and heterogeneous characteristics of these groups

ABSTRACT

This systematic review considers what is known about the characteristics of sexual killers and sexual aggressors. The aim was to identify which characteristics have consistently been shown to be similar (homogeneous) and which are different (heterogeneous) across these two groups. Ten studies, including approximately 300 sexual killers, were analysed. Only studies where the samples were directly compared and where sexual killers were male, predominantly non-serial and perpetrated against adult female victims were included. Results indicate that levels of loneliness and anger appear to be more prevalent in the sexual killer sample while mental health disorders, criminal history, family structure and history of sexual abuse as well as some crime scene behaviours seem to be similar across the two groups. The results of this review have also highlighted some methodological problems inherent to these types of studies and these issues are discussed from the perspective of improving research on these crimes.     

故意杀人罪的手段残忍及其死刑裁量——以刑事指导案例为对象的研究

故意杀人罪在死刑适用案件中占有较大比重,其死刑裁量对于减少和控制死刑具有重要意义。而手段残忍是司法实践中故意杀人罪死刑裁量的重要因素,并且独立于故意杀人罪的情节严重、情节恶劣以及后果严重等评价性用语。通过对十个被司法机关认定为故意杀人手段残忍的典型案例的探讨,可以认为故意杀人罪的手段残忍是指,在杀人过程中,故意折磨被害人,致使被害人死亡之前处于肉体与精神的痛苦状态。司法实践中存在着将故意杀人罪的手段残忍与情节严重、情节恶劣以及后果严重等评价性用语相混淆的现象,致使故意杀人罪的手段残忍内容宽泛,沦为一句法律套语。故意杀人罪的死刑裁量应当主要从案件性质、犯罪情节、犯罪后果、主观恶性和人身危险性等四个方面进行考量。     

Organized crime and regional development. A review of the Italian case

This paper offers a review of the effects of organized crime on regional economic development, with particular reference to the case of Italy. After reviewing the empirical studies that analyse the relationship between crime and economic development, the paper examines the regional distribution and the social costs of some crimes (in particular extortion) that can be linked to mafia type criminality.     

From dynamic risk factors to causal processes: a methodological framework

ABSTRACT

It is becoming increasingly apparent that dynamic risk factors are unable to function as explanations of offending because they are composite constructs, which contain a mixture of putative causes, states of affairs, and problematic cognitive, affective, behavioural and social states associated with crime. In this paper we draw from psychopathology research and theory on the conception and classification of mental disorders to develop the Dynamic Risk Research Framework (DRRF). In our opinion, the assumptions and methodological tool associated with this framework can better focus research into the causes of offending by making use of the information provided by dynamic risk factors. A conceptual framework such as the DRRF can arguably translate this valuable information into deep, coherent explanations, and ultimately, more streamlined and precise intervention strategies.     

DSM-5 proposed diagnostic criteria for sexual paraphilias: tensions between diagnostic validity and forensic utility

In order to prevent sexual crimes, “sexual predator” laws now allow indefinite preventive civil commitment of criminals who have completed their prison sentences but are judged to have a paraphilic mental disorder that makes them likely to commit another crime. Such proceedings can bypass the usual protections of criminal law as long as the basis for incarceration is the attribution of a mental disorder. Thus, the difficult conceptual distinction between deviant sexual desires that are mental disorders versus those that are normal variations in sexual preference (even if they are eccentric, repugnant, or illegal if acted upon) has attained critical forensic significance. Yet, the concept of paraphilic disorders - called “perversions” in earlier times - is inherently fuzzy and controversial and thus open to conceptual abuse for social control purposes. Consequently, the criteria used in diagnosing paraphilic disorders deserve careful scrutiny.The DSM-5 sexual disorders work group is proposing substantial revisions to the paraphilia diagnostic criteria in the DSM-5 nosology. It is claimed that the new criteria provide a reconceptualization that clarifies the distinction between normal variation and paraphilic disorder in a way relevant to forensic settings. In this article, after considering the logic of the concept of a paraphilic disorder, I examine each of the proposed changes to the DSM-5 paraphilia criteria and assess their conceptual validity. I argue that the DSM-5 proposals, while containing a kernel of an advance in distinguishing paraphilias from paraphilic disorders, nonetheless would yield criteria for paraphilic disorders that are conceptually invalid in ways open to serious forensic abuse.     

Chapter 22: Reactive States

Reactive or psychogenic states are temporary and reversible disorders of mental activity arising as a reaction to mental trauma, which, relevant to forensic psychiatry, may be an experience associated with the offender's crime, his imprisonment, or the conditions of the investigation.     

Early criminal recidivism among mentally disordered offenders

Criminal recidivism was studied during 2 years in a Swedish population-based cohort (N = 318) of mentally disordered male offenders who had undergone a pretrial forensic psychiatric investigation, been convicted in subsequent trials, and been sentenced to forensic psychiatric treatment (FPT; n = 152), prison (n = 116), or noncustodial sanctions (n = 50). Recidivism was analysed in relation to index sanctions, levels of supervision, diagnoses, and criminological factors. Significantly lower recidivism in the FPT group was related to lower crime rates during periods at conditional liberty in this group alone, and recidivism was significantly more common among offenders with at least one of the two diagnoses of substance abuse disorder and personality disorder than among those with psychotic or other mental disorders alone. Age at index crime and number of previous crimes emerged as significant predictors of recidivism. The results of this study suggest that the relapse rates depend as much on level of supervision as on individual characteristics.     

CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR AND THE GAINS FROM CRIME

A number of economists recently have applied tools of economics to analysis of crime. The resulting models of criminal activity typically postulate that crime is positively related to gains porn crime and inversely related to the probability of punishment. While empirical studies have confirmed this latter effect, the relation between gains from crime and criminal activity has not been satisfactorily examined. This paper specifically tests the empirical relation between criminal behavior and the gains from crime. The unsettling possibility that decreases in the gains from crime my lead to increases in the number of crimes is discussed.     

Banking Options and Neighborhood Crime: Does Fringe Banking Increase Neighborhood Crime?

In the past few years, scholars interested in neighborhoods and crime have turned their attention to the role of neighborhood organizations. Recently, (Kubrin, Squires, Graves, and Ousey, Criminology & Public Policy, 10(2), 437–466, 2011) examined the impact of payday lenders on neighborhood crime. They found that there is a significant relationship between payday lenders, and both violent and property crime rates. The current research builds upon their work by exploring banking options in the city of Norfolk, Virginia. Findings indicate that the presence of payday lenders is significantly related to property crime in 2010 and violent crime in 2010, though the findings for violent crimes are not robust. Also there is a mild suppression effect predicting violent crime rates once socioeconomic deprivation is controlled. Pawn shops are not significantly related to either property or violent crimes. Interestingly banks are significant positive predictors of both property and violent crimes. The difference between the findings here and those of (Kubrin, Squires, Graves, and Ousey, Criminology & Public Policy, 10(2), 437–466, 2011) are discussed.     

Clinical and demographic characteristics of elderly offenders at a maximum-security forensic hospital

The purpose of the study was to determine the clinical and demographic characteristics of the male elderly offenders admitted to a maximum-security forensic hospital. Charts of male elderly patients were reviewed to obtain clinical and demographic data. Seventy-seven percent of geriatric felons were involved in violent crime, 41% of which had psychotic symptoms. Forty-five percent of offenders with a history of head trauma/neurologic disorder were charged with violent offenses. Fifty-nine percent had previous psychiatric hospitalization. Most elderly male offenders involved in violent crimes had primary psychotic and mood disorders, cognitive impairment, and a history of head trauma/neurologic disorder. The small number of subjects precludes clear conclusions and needs further study.     

The Law of Crime Concentration: An Application and Recommendations for Future Research

Objective

We address four outstanding empirical questions related to the “law of crime concentration” (Weisburd in Criminology 53:133–157, 2015): (1) Is the spatial concentration of crime stable over time? (2) Do the same places consistently rank among those with the highest crime counts? (3) How much crime concentration would be observed if crimes were distributed randomly over place? (4) To what degree does the spatial concentration of crime depend on places that are crime free?

Methods

The data are annual counts of violent and property crimes in St. Louis between 2000 and 2014. Temporal stability in the spatial inequality of crime is measured by computing the fraction of crimes that occur in the 5% of street segments with the highest crime frequencies each year. The spatial mobility of crime is measured by computing the number of years each street segment appears in the top 5% of street segments. Poisson simulations are used to estimate the fraction of crimes that could appear in the top 5% of street segments on the basis of chance alone. The impact of crime-free locales on the spatial concentration of crime is evaluated by comparing results from analyses that include and exclude crime-free street segments from the crime distributions.

Results

The concentration of crime is highly unequal and stable over time. The specific street segments with the highest crime frequencies, however, change over time. Nontrivial fractions of street segments may appear among the 5% with the highest crime frequencies on the basis of chance. Spatial concentration of crime is reduced when crime-free street segments are excluded from the crime distributions.

Conclusions

The law of crime concentration is not a measurement artifact. Its substantive significance, however, should be assessed in future longitudinal research that replicates the current study across diverse social settings.

     

Behavioural case linkage with solved and unsolved crimes

Offender behaviour is used to distinguish between crimes committed by the same person (linked crimes) and crimes committed by different people (unlinked crimes) through behavioural case linkage. There is growing evidence to support the use of behavioural case linkage by investigative organisations such as the police, but this research is typically limited to samples of solved crime that do not reflect how this procedure is used in real life. The current paper extends previous research by testing the potential for behavioural case linkage in a sample containing both solved and unsolved crimes. Discrimination accuracy is examined across crime categories (e.g. a crime pair containing a car theft and a residential burglary), across crime types (e.g. a crime pair containing a residential burglary and a commercial burglary), and within crime types (e.g. a crime pair containing two residential burglaries) using the number of kilometres (intercrime distance) and the number of days (temporal proximity) between offences to distinguish between linked and unlinked crimes. The intercrime distance and/or the temporal proximity were able to achieve statistically significant levels of discrimination accuracy across crime categories, across crime types, and within crime types as measured by Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis. This suggests that behavioural case linkage can be used to assist the investigation, detection and prosecution of prolific and versatile serial offenders.     

Do prior histories of violence and mental disorders impact on violent behaviour during encounters with police?

Despite sustained large-scale educational campaigns, public attitudes towards mental illness have remained persistently negative. Associated with this, recent research from Victoria, Australia, reported that police commonly associated violent behaviour with mental illness. The present study examined 4267 cases of police use of force and considered what differentiated and characterised violent from non-violent behaviours reported by police in the context of a use of force incident. The specific focus was to examine the effects that historical variables such as age, gender, prior violent offending and having a prior diagnosis of mental disorder, as well as incident specific factors such as exhibiting signs of mental disorder and substance intoxication have on violent behaviour during the use of force incident. The proximal factors of apparent mental disorder and alcohol intoxication were significantly associated with violent behaviour towards police, whilst having a history of prior violence and prior mental disorder diagnoses was not associated with violence. The results challenge traditional stereotyped views about the violence risk posed by people with prior contact with mental health services and those with prior violent offending histories. A service model that allows for psychiatric triage would be able to assist with streamlining police involvement and facilitating timely access to mental health services.     

Post-motivational Progression and the Possibility of Aborting Protracted Crime

The idea for this article emerged from a cursory examination of the National Crime Victimization Survey (US Department of Justice, 1997–2004). Unbeknownst to the authors (and possibly to most of the readers) is a trend confirming that about 2/3 of all violent crimes in the United States end up as attempted crimes, as opposed to completed crimes. Equally intriguing is that international crime figures confirm, almost exactly, the US Survey statistics. If these figures are accurate, then criminologists and crime control agents should ask the question: if 2/3 of all violent crimes fail to materialize—for whatever reason—under their own weight, why cannot criminologists and crime control agents in the future develop a clinical competency that can exploit this failure and further reduce the completion rate of violent crime to technically zero? If that can be accomplished, then violent crimes can theoretically be aborted. Such a futuristic design should not be considered farfetched in light of the current advancements in today’s technology, including the military practice of laser-bombing a car speeding on the road several miles below, or the on going military testing of “shooting a missile with a missile”. This article focuses on the undiscovered, yet enormous, role of post-motivational criminology, which—when the desired clinical competency is developed—can literally change the trajectory of violent crimes and possibly abort them in progress. While this article cannot promise answers for the next decades, it can, at least, stimulate the criminological community to think beyond its traditional boundaries and to engage in quantum research consortiums that can study the dynamics of post-motivational progressions and eventually resolve why some bullets miss or can intentionally be made not to hit.