Violent Youth Group Involvement, Self-reported Offending and Victimisation: An Empirical Assessment of an Integrated Informal Control/Lifestyle Model

The present study assesses the relationship between family and educational disadvantage on self-reported offending, victimisation and violent youth group involvement in a Belgian medium-sized city. Many studies have focused on the relationship between family disadvantage (one-parent families, immigrant background) and educational disadvantage (vocational tracking, school failure) and violent youth group involvement, offending/victimisation in surveys. The present study primarily assesses to what extent social bonds (parental monitoring and the school social bond), deviant beliefs, low self-control and lifestyle risk are stable mediators of the relationship between family and educational disadvantage and self-reported offending, victimisation and troublesome youth group involvement among young adolescents. The results indicate that the lifestyle-exposure model, which was initially used to explain individual differences in victimisation is much better capable of explaining differences in selfreported offending and violent youth group involvement than victimisation. The implications for further studies are discussed.     

Psychosocial influences that motivate young offenders to engage in a non-custodial community intervention

Offender programmes do not fully consider how psychosocial factors influence individual engagement within interventions. While factors associated with offending behaviour are well-known, their influence on motivational engagement is not clear. The present study of 109 adolescent offenders in a non-custodial community intervention explored the influence of aggression, antisocial behaviour in the community, problematic and disruptive behaviour in school, and parental bonding and self-esteem on reported motivation to engage with a non-custodial intervention. Regression and correlational analysis revealed relationships between these variables and four subtypes of motivation (i.e. intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, identified regulation and amotivation), although results in respect of self-esteem were mixed. The findings highlight the multidimensional and complex nature of motivation, and support the need to internalise extrinsic motivations through the promotion of self-autonomy and competence within intervention programmes in order to maximise engagement.     

Testing moffitt's neuropsychological variation hypothesis for the prediction of life-course persistent offending

Abstract

Although neuropsychological deficits have been linked to antisocial behavior, theories of crime have been slow to develop formal processes and predictions for neuropsychological deficits. One recently articulated theory, however, places emphasis on the influence of neuropsychological variation in the development of antisocial behavior. In her developmental taxonomy. Moffitt outlines a theory of antisocial behavior that rests on the presence of two groups of offenders: life-course persisters and adolescent-limiteds. Both groups occupy distinct etiologies for antisocial involvement and are believed to engage in different antisocial activities. One of the main differences between the two groups is the role that neuropsychological deficits play in the production of antisocial behavior. Moffitt hypothesizes that neuropsychological deficits are predictive of antisocial involvement for life-course persisters but not for adolescent-limiteds. Using data from the Philadelphia portion of the National Collaborative Perinatal Project, proxy measures of neuropsychological deficits are used to predict four different manifestations of life-course persistent offending. Results support Moffitt's hypothesis about the relationship between poor neuropsychological test scores and life-course persistent styles of offending.     

THE INTERACTION OF ANTISOCIAL PROPENSITY AND LIFE‐COURSE VARYING PREDICTORS OF DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR: DIFFERENCES BY METHOD OF ESTIMATION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THEORY*

Recent criminological research has explored the extent to which stable propensity and life‐course perspectives may be integrated to provide a more comprehensive explanation of variation in individual criminal offending. One line of these integrative efforts focuses on the ways that stable individual characteristics may interact with, or modify, the effects of life‐course varying social factors. Given their consistency with the long‐standing view that person–environment interactions contribute to variation in human social behavior, these theoretical integration attempts have great intuitive appeal. However, a review of past criminological research suggests that conceptual and empirical complexities have, so far, somewhat dampened the development of a coherent theoretical understanding of the nature of interaction effects between stable individual antisocial propensity and time‐varying social variables. In this study, we outline and empirically assess several of the sometimes conflicting hypotheses regarding the ways that antisocial propensity moderates the influence of time‐varying social factors on delinquent offending. Unlike some prior studies, however, we explicitly measure the interactive effects of stable antisocial propensity and time‐varying measures of selected social variables on changes in delinquent offending. In addition, drawing on recent research that suggests that the relative ubiquity of interaction effects in past studies may be partly from the poorly suited application of linear statistical models to delinquency data, we alternatively test our interaction hypotheses using least‐squares and tobit estimation frameworks. Our findings suggest that method of estimation matters, with interaction effects appearing readily in the former but not in the latter. The implications of these findings for future conceptual and empirical work on stable propensity/time‐varying social variable interaction effects are discussed.     

An empirical test of social control theory

A test of social control theory was operated on a random sample of about 2000 juveniles aged 12 to 18 years. A second test was performed 2 years later on a subsample of the original one, taking into account changes in the life situation with respect to the family, school, work, leisure, peers, and some values connected with delinquency. Both self-report data and official data were collected. Using the HOMALS technique, scales were constructed of family integration (parental control, communication with parents, family activities, and family climate), school integration (liking school, commitment to school values, school performance, and social behavior), leisure and peers (nature and involvement in leisure activities, bravado), and some normative statements. Changes in social integration were measured over a period of 2 years and compared to the impact of official intervention in delinquency cases by police or prosecutor. On the basis of path analysis and a LISREL model, we were able to conclude that there was no impact of police or prosecutor intervention on later delinquency, but there appeared to be a strong and inverse relationship between changes in social integration, or the bond with society, and the frequency of offending.This article is based on two Dutch research reports, which have been published in English inJuvenile Delinquency in the Netherlands (Junger-Tas and Block, 1988).     

Assessing Correlates of Onset, Escalation, Deescalation, and Desistance of Delinquent Behavior

This article evaluates the utility of social development model constructs toassess the correlates of onset, escalation, deescalation, and desistance ofdelinquent behavior, from age 12 to age 15, using a dynamic classificationapproach. Dynamic classification places individuals into categories basedon changes in levels of delinquent behavior over time. These analyses assessthe extent to which specific constructs are associated with changes in thedelinquency status of individuals. Constructs of the social developmentmodel (SDM), including opportunities for conventional involvement, skillsfor conventional involvement, rewards for conventional involvement,proactive family management, bonding to conventional society, opportunitiesfor antisocial involvement, antisocial interactions, perceived rewards forantisocial involvement, and norms against drug use, were significantlyassociated with change in delinquent behavior over time. Many of theconstructs were particularly salient in distinguishing between youths whoremained involved in delinquency and youths who deescalated or desisted fromdelinquent behavior during this period. Implications for preventiveinterventions and criminological theory are discussed.     

TESTING MOFFITT'S ACCOUNT OF ADOLESCENCE‐LIMITED DELINQUENCY*

Much of the research testing Moffitt's taxonomy of antisocial behavior has concentrated on life‐course‐persistent as opposed to adolescence‐limited offending. For Moffitt, adolescence‐limited delinquency occurs near puberty as a function of factors endemic to the peer social context of adolescence, including the realization that adolescents are physically mature enough to engage in adult‐like behaviors, but are forbidden to engage in such acts because of their biological age. Using data from the Youth‐In‐Transition survey, we find that adolescence‐limited delinquency is characterized by involvement in rebellious but not aggressive delinquency. Further, rebellious delinquency is accounted for by the interaction between early maturity and the autonomy aspects of peer activities.     

Cybercrime is whose responsibility? A case study of an online behaviour system in crime

Drawing on Sutherland’s theory of behaviour systems in crime, this study investigates social media fraud (SMF) facilitated by botnets to understand the onset and maturation of this new online offending behaviour. We find legitimate actors in the system – Internet of Things manufacturers, online social networks, hosting companies and law enforcement agencies – share a way of life that prioritises private gains and avoids implicit responsibility for security. They arrive at a Nash equilibrium that provides a weak and disorganised social response to crime. SMF providers, on the other hand, are cleverly organised and exploit weaknesses in security, adapting to change and developing working relationship with those who benefit from their activities and share their lenient behaviour towards fraudulent activities. We conclude that the rise in cybercrime is a result of the behaviours of all actors in the system, not just those who offend.     

Callous-Unemotional Traits and Social Information Processing: Multiple Risk-Factor Models for Understanding Aggressive Behavior in Antisocial Youth

This study examined multiple risk factor models of links among callous-unemotional traits, aggression beliefs, social information processing, impulsivity, and aggressive behavior in a sample of 150 antisocial adolescents. Consistent with past research, results indicated that beliefs legitimizing aggression predicted social information processing biases and that social information processing biases mediated the effect of beliefs on aggressive behavior. Callous-unemotional traits accounted for unique variance in aggression above and beyond effects of more established risk factors of early onset of antisocial behavior, social information processing, and impulsivity. These findings add to recent research showing that callous-unemotional traits are a unique risk factor associated with aggression and criminal offending and suggest that targeting both affective and cognitive vulnerabilities may enhance clinical intervention with antisocial youth.     

Is sexually abusive behaviour in personality disordered inpatients analogous to sexual offences committed prior to hospitalization?

Abstract

Sexually abusive behaviour by personality disordered patients presents a serious threat to the integrity of staff–patient relationships and the safety of other residents. The occurrence of such behaviour is also problematic for the offending patient, as it may impact on perceived treatment needs and their access to the community. This paper reports on a study of sexually abusive behaviour in a high security psychiatric hospital. It also examines the relationship between these behaviours and patients’ history of sexual offending. The results showed a high frequency of low-severity sexually abusive behaviour and no significant associations between sexually abusive behaviour during hospitalization and sexual offence history. These findings imply that low-severity sexually abusive behaviour within secure settings may be determined, partly, by environmental conditions. This sexual abuse may also be functionally dissimilar to severe sexual abuse perpetrated in the community. The meaning and determinants of sexual abuse within secure settings must be scrutinized carefully and comprehensively before they are considered analogous to previous sexual offences.     

Youth victimization: school climate or deviant lifestyles?

Despite much focus on school violence, there has been little research that explores the relationship between offending and victimization in various school climates. School climate theory suggests that the school's social system, culture, milieu, and ecological structure affect student outcomes including academic performance, delinquency, and more recently, victimization. Hierarchical analysis of data from 5,037 11th-grade students in 33 schools found that offending behavior was the strongest predictor for both minor and more serious forms of victimization. School climate, specifically the social cohesion of schools, reduced serious violent victimization risk. However, school climate did not affect the relationship between offending and victimization, and was not substantially modified when characteristics of the school environment were considered.     

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.     

Protective processes: the function of young people's implicit theories of crime in offending behaviour

Abstract

Despite development in high-risk environments, many youths are resilient and do not engage in antisocial behaviour and crime. Research on human traits such as intelligence and morality, suggest that the implicit theories (ITs) people have about the controllability of their behaviour, as either fixed (entity beliefs) or malleable (incremental beliefs) may play a part in successful behavioural outcomes. Using this as a framework, the function of ITs about crime in successful adolescent development was investigated among 422 ‘at-risk’ youths. Incremental ITs of criminality were found to significantly predict less self-reported involvement in youth offending, controlling for academic attainment. Entity ITs, conversely, were associated with an increased rate of participation in deviant behaviour. Further analysis revealed that incremental ITs of criminality moderated the negative effects of associating with delinquent peers on adolescent behaviour. The results demonstrate the direct and indirect protective function of incremental ITs of criminality for youths at risk and highlight the value of investigating further the protective processes that are involved in preventing youth crime.     

Social psychological risk factors,delinquency and age of onset

Based on data from the 2014 Communities that Care Youth Survey (CCYS), the authors examine the association between risk factors of tenth graders and age of onset (never, 14 or older, 13 or younger) of three antisocial behaviors/delinquency (got arrested; carried a handgun to school; and attacked someone with the intent of seriously hurting them). Risk factors are under four domains: family, community, school, and peer. The age of onset and risk literature are discussed. The purpose of this research is to examine what risk factors are associated with age of onset. Individual risk factors under the peer domain had the strongest association with all three antisocial behaviors.     

Deficits in Theory of Mind,empathic understanding and moral reasoning: a comparison between young offenders and non-offenders

Previous research suggests a lack of pro-social skills is characteristic of an antisocial or offending personality. It is therefore reasonable to assume that an inadequate understanding of another's mental state may contribute to antisocial or offending behaviour. Forty-six young-adult male offenders and a control completed measures to assess: Theory of Mind (ToM), empathic understanding (EU) and moral reasoning. Significant differences in the performance of young-adult offenders and the control group were detected in ToM, EU and moral reasoning with young-adult offenders scoring lower than the control group. A positive association was also found between ToM, EU and moral reasoning. These findings contribute to a further understanding of how individuals make sense of, and respond to, the social world around them. The ability to measure ToM, EU and moral reasoning and subsequently identify any specific deficits, as well as recognise the link between these three key skills, is not only useful for researchers but it will also allow practitioners to tailor existing (or develop new) interventions specific to the needs of an individual. This could be particularly useful in terms of recidivism when applied to those involved in antisocial or offending behaviour.     

Early prediction of violent and non-violent youthful offending

Conclusions Violent and non-violent offending can be predicted more accurately than is generally believed. It is not difficult to identify a high risk category of people at age 8–10 who have an elevated probability (three or four times that of the remainder) of becoming offenders. This identification can be based on either antisocial behaviour or a deprived background or both. Depending on the prevalence of offending, the false positive rates may be high or low, but the odds ratio is a better measure of predictive efficiency. Overall, the early prediction of offending in the Cambridge study was quite impressive.     

Decisions to offend in men who sexually abuse their daughters

Abstract

A group of nine intrafamilial child molesters of daughters and stepdaughters from Canada and the United Kingdom were interviewed about their analysis of opportunities to sexually offend. Questions focused on the evaluation of immediate and life circumstances surrounding the offence, including how the offender defined, created and responded to opportunities for offending. An equally important goal was identifying strengths in resisting opportunities and coping with spoiled attempts. The interviews were transcribed and subjected to grounded theory analysis. Consistent with the rational choice theory of criminal behaviour the majority of offenders identified information and decision-making processes used to evaluate opportunities for offending. Themes related to offender and victim characteristics, as well as situational factors, are identified and discussed with respect to risk and protective factors. Offenders described positive relationships, greater social/community connectedness and successful employment as present in their lives when not offending. These elements are consistent with positive approaches to sexual offender treatment and management.     

Partner similarity for self-reported antisocial behaviour among married,cohabiting and dating couples: the Generation R Study

Abstract

From a criminological perspective, romantic relationships are supposed to decrease the risk of antisocial behaviour (Laub, Nagin, & Sampson, American Sociological Review, 63, 225–238, 1998). However, the effects of these relationships probably depend on the romantic partner's behaviour. In the current study we examined partner similarity for antisocial behaviour in an ethnically heterogeneous community sample of 4135 married, cohabiting and dating couples from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, using self-reports. Spousal correlations were consistently positive for antisocial behaviour but differed in strength according to the type of antisocial behaviour. Associations between spouses remained strong after adjusting for age and educational level depending on the type of antisocial behaviour. In addition, antisocial behaviour was positively associated between partners across marital status and ethnicity, but the strength of this association varied to some extent. Results are discussed in light of the phenotypic assortment, the socialization and the social homogamy hypotheses.     

The contemporary transformation of american youth: An analysis of change in the prevalence of delinquency, 1991–2015

Youth involvement in crime has declined substantially over the past few decades, yet the reasons for this trend remain unclear. We advance the literature by examining the role of several potentially important shifts in individual attitudes and behaviors that may help to account for the observed temporal variation in youth delinquency. Our multilevel analysis of repeated cross‐sectional data from eighth and tenth grade students in the Monitoring the Future (MTF) study indicates that changes in youth offending prevalence were not associated with changes in youth attachment and commitment to school, community involvement, or parental supervision after school. In contrast, the study provides suggestive evidence that the significant reduction in youth offending prevalence observed since the early 1990s was significantly associated with a decrease in unstructured socializing and alcohol consumption and, to a lesser extent, with a decrease in youth preferences for risky activities. Implications for existing theoretical explanations and future research on youth crime trends are discussed.     

The Relationship Between Adolescent Physical Abuse and Criminal Offending: Support for an Enduring and Generalized Cycle of Violence

Prospective investigations have demonstrated support for the cycle of violence theory. However, few studies have examined whether or not abuse occurring during adolescence increases the prevalence and frequency of criminal involvement, or explored the long-term consequences of such victimization. In addition, there has been little investigation of whether or not the effects of abuse vary depending on characteristics of the victim, such as sex, race/ethnicity, age, family structure or income. Using data from the National Youth Survey, this study demonstrates that adolescent physical abuse has immediate and enduring effects on the prevalence and frequency of a variety of self-reported offenses, including violent and non-violent crimes, drug use and intimate partner violence. Furthermore, the study reveals that while victimization increases the prevalence of offending for victims of varying backgrounds, the frequency of offending is moderated by family income, area of residence, and family structure. Implications for prevention are discussed.