A Profile of Violent Offenders in Spanish Prisons

In Europe, it is relatively uncommon to find studies that investigate the criminal profiles of violent offenders, especially infrequent are those that pay special attention to offenders’ mental health/substance use disorders and histories of violence during childhood. The current research explores whether inmates who are incarcerated for violent offenses (n = 536) in Spain are different in terms of the aforementioned factors as compared to inmates incarcerated for non-violent offenses (n = 536). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that violent offenders, as compared to their non-violent counterparts, were more likely to be younger, younger at the time of their first arrest, single, use alcohol, receive treatment in prison for anxiety or schizophrenia, and report physical abuse during childhood.     

Violent Sex Offenses: How are They Best Measured from Official Records?

In the United States, sexually violent predator (SVP) commitment statutes generally require assessment of an offender's risk of subsequent sexual violence. Current actuarial methods for predicting sexual reoffending were actually designed to predict something else—charges or convictions for offenses deemed sexual based on information obtained from police “rapsheets” alone. This study examined the referral and past offenses of 177 sex offenders. Results showed that police rapsheets (and data based on them) underestimated the number and severity of sexually motivated violent offenses for which sex offenders were actually apprehended. Rapsheet violent offenses seemed a more accurate index of the conduct addressed by SVP legislation than were rapsheet sex offenses. We suggest that, when evaluating sex offenders for SVP status, actuarial instruments designed to predict violent recidivism (as measured by rapsheet violent reoffenses) might be preferable to those designed to predict sexual recidivism (as measured by rapsheet sexual reoffenses).

重新审视暴力手段的基本特征

揭示明确暴力手段的内涵,应当注意把握其基本特征。暴力手段的主观特征包括故意性、目的性两个方面,客观特征包括作为性、强制性、对象性三个方面。     

Rehabilitating serious violent adult offenders: an empirical and theoretical stocktake

Extensive meta-analyses of the correctional programme evaluation literature have generated developments in the technology of programme design. However, the risk, need and responsivity principles do not constitute a rehabilitation theory and cannot answer specialist offender programme design questions. After more than a decade of involvement in programmes for seriously violent offenders, we decided to reassess the empirical evidence underpinning violence rehabilitation in adult men. We focused on both mixed and violent offender samples, reviewing the outcome data from nine evaluations of cognitive–behavioural interventions. Despite a plethora of methodological difficulties, it appears that most of the programmes had small to large effects on violent and non-violent recidivism. Little could be concluded from these evaluations about the most promising theoretical framework for future programme development. Most programmes contained only scant information on their underlying theory base. None referred to multivariate aggression or crime theories. We conclude that there is a pressing need for additional evaluative research, and theory development. To date, the case for specialist violent offending programmes has not been made.     

Hands-on Killing of Intimate Partners as a Function of Sex and Relationship Status/State

Guided by evolutionary psychology and a situational perspective on violence, we generated three hypotheses to investigate whether the percentage of intimate partner homicides by beating, a hands-on homicide method, varies with the victim-offender relationship. We tested these hypotheses with a national database that includes incident-level information on over 50,000 intimate partner homicides. Results indicate that: (1) men are more likely than women to kill a partner by beating, and (2) men are more likely to kill their partners by beating when the relationship is dating or non-marital cohabiting (versus legal marriage). We argue that the lack of commitment in these non-marital relationships may produce greater jealousy in men, driving the perpetrator to kill his victim in a more violent manner (i.e., beating), relative to men who kill their wives.     

论我国犯罪被害人国家补偿制度的构建

对因暴力犯罪而致生命、健康遭受侵害之被害人国家补偿不仅是一种道义上的"善行",更是一项国家的法律责任。建立我国犯罪被害人国家补偿制度的必要性和合理性已经达成共识,但"如何建构的问题"却依然存在着较大争议。借鉴国外成功的经验,立足中国实际,深入系统地探讨犯罪被害人国家补偿的对象、适用条件、补偿程度、资金来源及管理机构、补偿程序等重要问题,对于我国犯罪被害人国家补偿制度的科学建构具有重要的意义。     

浅谈报复型个人极端暴力犯罪的预防

当前社会矛盾处于多发期和凸显期,这在一定程度上导致报复型个人极端暴力事件频发,对此类暴力事件的犯罪行为必须以预防为主.从近年来发生的个人极端暴力事件以及最近一段时间广为关注的几起校园凶杀案可以看出,个人极端暴力行为已经从自杀型向报复型转变.报复型个人极端暴力犯罪行为的类型分为报复性杀人型和泄愤性攻击型两种,要在对典型案...     

秩序控制多元化视角下警察权威的新认知——从暴力袭警案频发谈起

暴力袭警事件频繁见诸于媒体,公安机关及其警察成为社会和媒体关注的焦点,人民警察在维护社会稳定,打击犯罪的同时自身权益受到严重影响,警察权威下降成为不争的现实,全面重建警察权威已经成为公安机关的当务之急。     

All quiet on election day? International election observation and incentives for pre-election violence in African elections

This article argues that the increasing international interest in elections as exemplified by the rise of international election monitoring induces temporal shifts in the use of violent intimidation by political actors. The presence of international electoral missions lowers the potential for election-day violence relative to the pre-election period because domestic actors likely refrain from intimidating opposition candidates or voters before the eyes of international observers, but creates incentives for political actors to engage in violent manipulation in parts of the electoral process receiving considerably less international attention, such as the pre-election period. The article expects that international election observation increases the incidence of violent manipulation during electoral campaigns. An empirical analysis of election-related violence for African elections in the 1990–2009 period shows that the presence of election observers increases the incidence of pre-election violence, but has no effect on election-day violence.     

Personal History Dynamics of Dating Violence Among Israeli Students

The purpose of the present study is to examine the relationship between dating violence and childhood experiences of aggression. The study specifically examines which of the following four variables is most strongly linked with the probability of partner assault in a current relationship: violence socialization, sexual abuse history, parental neglect, or childhood deviant behavior. Four hundred sixty-five Israeli undergraduate students participated in the study. The revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2) was used to measure current violence. Personal history variables were taken from a large-scale questionnaire, the Personal and Relationships Profile (PRP). The results indicate that after controlling for the effect of other historical and demographic variables, the only historical factor which is significantly associated with partner assault is childhood deviant behavior. However, hierarchical regression analysis reveals that childhood deviant behavior is best explained by the three other types of childhood experiences, in addition to gender (male), nationality (non-Jewish) and religiousness (non-religious). We also found that while the probability of violence increases the longer the relationship lasts, it decreases in marital relationships and cohabitation. The implications of the findings are discussed.