Risk factors for violent crime in patients with schizophrenia: a retrospective study.

Introduction: The relationship between schizophrenia and violence is heterogeneous and complex. The aim of this study was to explore the characteristics and the potential risk factors for violence crime in patients with schizophrenia. Methodology: We conducted a retrospective case-control study at the Judicial Psychiatric Identification Unit of Xiangya Second Hospital of Central South University from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2016. The case group included violent offenders diagnosed with schizophrenia, while the control group comprised non-violent individuals with the same diagnosis. Results: There were 308 individuals in the violent group [subdivided into the homicide group (n = 155) and the intentional injury group (n = 153)] and 139 individuals in the non-violent group. A risk model showed that a history of violence (odds ratio (OR) = 2.88, 95% CI [1.79-4.64]), persecutory delusions (OR = 2.57, 95% CI [1.63-4.06]), regular treatment in the previous four weeks (OR = 0.29, 95% CI [0.16-0.51]) and insight (OR = 0.30, 95% CI [0.14-0.62]) were independently associated with violence. Conclusion: This study provided useful clinical information to identify risk factors for violence and develop better strategic programs to manage violence in patients with schizophrenia.

Dark and bright personality dimensions as predictors of criminal behavior and recidivism.

A growing body of research highlights the continuum between dark and bright personality traits impacting individual prosocial or antisocial tendencies. However, the interplay between personality dimensions and actual criminal behavior and its reoccurrence is not fully elucidated. We aimed to explore the cumulative predictive value of the bright and dark core of personality for criminal history in differentiating a general community sample (N = 282) from a large sample of inmates (N = 296), with (n = 129) or without (n = 167) criminal history while controlling for age, sex and impression management. Predictors of first-time offending were higher levels of Neuroticism, Openness, Dark Factor, Sadism, and Deceitfulness. Criminal recidivism was predicted by high Neuroticism and Deceitfulness. Finally, higher levels of Extraversion were negatively related to criminal behavior and history, highlighting a potential protective effect of displaying assertive and sociable tendencies. The findings highlight the relevance of considering the dark personality core complementary to the typical personality dimensions in the risk assessment, prediction, and reduction of criminal behavior.

Does Escalating Violence and Associated Fear of Crime Worsen Psychological Well-Being in Community Dwellers Living in a Rural Setting? Results From the Atahualpa Project Cohort.

BACKGROUND: Escalating street violence and criminal homicides have an adverse impact on psychological well-being. However, these consequences have been difficult to evaluate. Using a recently validated scale, we aimed to assess the impact of fear of crime on the psychological status of middle-aged and older adults living in a rural setting afflicted by endemic violence. METHODS: Participants were selected from Atahualpa residents included in previous studies targeting psychological distress in the population. A validated scale was used to objectively quantify fear of crime in participants. Differences in symptoms of depression and anxiety between baseline and follow-up were used as distinct dependent variables and the continuous score of the fear of crime scale was used as the independent variable. Linear regression models were fitted to assess the association between the exposure and the outcomes, after adjusting for relevant confounders. RESULTS: A total of 653 participants (mean age = 53.2 ± 11.5 years; 57% women) completed the requested tests. We found a 13% increase in symptoms of depression and anxiety during the peak of violence in the village compared with previous years. Linear regression models showed a significant association between the total score on the fear of crime questionnaire and worsening symptoms of depression (ß = .24; 95% CI = 0.14-0.35) and anxiety (ß = .31; 95% CI = 0.24-0.37), after adjustment for relevant confounders. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows a significant aggravating effect of fear of crime on pre-existing symptoms of depression and anxiety and a deleterious effect of these conditions on overall well-being.

Gender-Specific Pathways in Violent Crime: Investigating the Role of Demographic and Mental Health Factors Using Mixed Graphical Models and Bayesian Networks.

This research aims to uncover gender-specific relationships and pathways that contribute to the perpetration of violent crimes, using sophisticated analytical tools to analyze the complex interactions between various factors. Employing Mixed Graphical Models and Bayesian networks, the study analyzes a sample of 1,254 prisoners (61.64% males and 38.36% females) to investigate the relationships among demographic factors, mental health issues, and violent crime. The study utilizes comprehensive measures, including the Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory, and Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, to assess participants' mental health status.Key findings reveal significant gender differences in the pathways to violent crime. For males, incomplete parental marriages strongly correlate with criminal behavior severity, while marriage status emerges as a significant factor, with married males less likely to commit violent crimes. In contrast, these relationships are not significant for females. Bayesian network analysis indicates that living in urban areas differently influences education and emotional expression across genders, emphasizing the importance of contextual factors. The study highlights the need for gender-specific considerations in criminal justice policies and interventions. It underscores the complex interplay of demographic and mental health factors in influencing violent crime pathways, providing insights for developing more effective prevention strategies. Despite its cross-sectional design and reliance on self-reported data, the research significantly contributes to understanding the gendered dimensions of criminal behavior.

Locality-based social media: The impact of content consumption and creation on perceived neighborhood crime, safety, and offline crime prevention.

Locality-based social media (LBSM) allow members of the community to exchange news, connect with local people, and raise awareness of problems such as crime. This study aims to better understand the influence of LBSM on perceptions of community crime, safety, and crime prevention. Drawing on survey data from 1000 Australians, we assess the extent to which frequency of exposure to crime on LBSM and intensity of engagement on LBSM influence perceptions of crime, safety, and offline crime prevention behaviors. LBSM content creators perceive less crime and feel safer compared to individuals who only consume content on LBSM. Creators of content are also more likely than consumers to engage in offline crime prevention action. Our findings highlight the need to encourage more balanced engagement across all members of community social media. Smaller groups that contain only local residents may be best suited to achieve this outcome.

Examining the Past Injustices Suffered by Those in Corrections and the General Public: A New Therapeutic Approach May Be Necessary.

One under-researched area within corrections is the connection among (a) past adverse events, particularly in the form of injustices against those who now are incarcerated, (b) crimes committed and then (c) healing from the effects of that past adversity of injustice. Might those who have experienced severe injustices against them develop an anger or a hatred that then is displaced onto others, leading to arrest, conviction and imprisonment? This is not to imply that societies condone illegal behaviour but instead to assist in the healing from the adversity so that future crime is reduced. As a first step in this sequence, the study here examined in detail the kinds of injustices suffered by men in a maximum-security correctional institution (N = 103) compared with men in a medium-security environment (N = 37) and in the general public (N = 96). Findings indicated differences between those in the general public and those in the two correctional contexts. The latter two groups had (a) a higher severity of injustices against them (rated by a panel of researchers), (b) a more negative current impact that past injustices are having on them (also rated by a panel of researchers), (c) more reports that the injustices contributed to their choices to harm others, (d) more serious types of hurt (such as sexual abuse), (e) a stronger degree of self-reported hurt and (f) more injustices from family members. Implications for correctional rehabilitation to reduce the negative psychological effects caused by the injustices of others are discussed.

Predictors of psychosocial functioning in people diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorders that committed violent offences and in those that did not: Results of the Recoviwel study.

Psychosocial functioning represents a core treatment target of Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders (SSD), and several clinical and cognitive factors contribute to its impairment. However, determinants of psychosocial functioning in people living with SSD that committed violent offences remain to be more thoroughly explored. This study aims to separately assess and compare predictors of psychosocial functioning in people with SSD that did and that did not commit violent offences considering several clinical, cognitive and violence-related parameters. Fifty inmates convicted for violent crimes in a forensic psychiatry setting diagnosed with SSD (OP group) and fifty participants matched for age, gender, education, and diagnosis (Non-OP group) were included in the study. A higher risk of violent relapse as measured by HCR-20 clinical subscale scores (p < 0.002) and greater global clinical severity as measured by CGI-S scores (p = 0.023) emerged as individual predictors of worse psychosocial functioning, as measured by PSP scores, in the OP group. Greater global clinical severity (p < 0.001), worse performance in the processing speed domain as measured by the BACS Symbol Coding (p = 0.002) and TMT-A tests (p = 0.016) and higher levels of non-planning impulsivity as measured by BIS-11 scores (p < 0.001) emerged as individual predictors of worse psychosocial functioning in the Non-OP group. These results confirm that clinical severity impacts psychosocial functioning in all individuals diagnosed with SSD and suggest that while cognitive impairment clearly represents a determinant of worse functional outcomes in most patients, the risk of violent relapse is a specific predictor of worse psychosocial functioning in people with SSD that committed criminal offences.

Effect of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy-Based Anger Management Training on Anger and Aggression Levels of Individuals Convicted of Violent Crimes.

PURPOSE: To determine the effect of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)-based anger management training on anger and aggression levels of individuals convicted of violent crimes. METHOD: This study was a randomized controlled trial conducted in a prison. Seventy-two individuals who met inclusion criteria were included in the study sample. The experimental group received 10 sessions of CBT-based anger management therapy over a 5-week period. RESULTS: After CBT-based anger management training, mean total score and mean subdimension scores of the Trait Anger and Anger Expression Style Scale of the experimental group decreased significantly compared to the control group. Similarly, Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire total mean score and mean sub-dimension scores of the experimental group significantly decreased compared to the control group. CONCLUSION: Results demonstrate that CBT-based anger management training effectively reduces anger and aggression levels among individuals convicted of violent crimes. In this regard, it is recommended that forensic psychiatric-mental health nurses, physicians, and psychologists working in correctional institutions apply CBT-based anger management training. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 62(10), 51-58.].

Risk factors for dropout from psychological substance use disorder treatment programs in criminal justice settings.

BACKGROUND: Substance use disorders are highly prevalent in people within the criminal justice system. Psychological programs are the most common type of treatment available and have been shown to decrease recidivism, but dropping out of treatment is common. Risk factors associated with treatment dropout remain unclear in this setting, and whether the risk factors differ by treatment form (group-based vs. individual). METHODS: Outcome (treatment dropout) was defined as not finishing the program due to client's own wish, misbehavior, no-shows, or because program leader found client to be unsuitable. Predictors of treatment dropout included a comprehensive set of individual-level clinical, socioeconomic, and crime-related pre-treatment characteristics. Multivariable regression models were used to estimate the associations between predictors and dropout. FINDINGS: The study cohort included 5239 criminal justice clients who participated in a psychological treatment program (group-based or individual). Multivariable logistic regression models showed that female sex (OR=1.64, 95% CI 1.20-2.25), age (0.99, [0.97-1.00]), sentence length (0.98, [0.97-0.98]), higher education (0.54, [0.28-1.00]), number of violent offenses (1.03, [1.01-1.05]), and anxiety disorders (1.32, [1.01-1.72]) were associated with dropout from the individual treatment program. For the group-based program, age (OR=0.98, 95% CI 0.96-1.00), sentence length (OR=0.96, 95% CI 0.94-0.98), stimulant use disorder (OR=1.48, 95%, 1.00-2.19), and self-harm (OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.00-2.34) were associated with dropout. CONCLUSIONS: We identified certain sociodemographic, crime-related, and clinical characteristics that were particularly important in predicting dropout from psychological treatment. Further, we find that there are similarities and differences in predictors of dropout from group-based and individual treatment forms.

The perceived guilt and innocence of adults with developmental language disorder and adults with typical language during a mock interrogation.

PURPOSE: This study examined if there were differences in the guilty and not guilty judgments of adults with developmental language disorder (DLD) and those with typical language (TL) functioning. METHOD: Twenty-four adults (12 DLD, 12 TL) were assigned to either the guilty or not guilty conditions. Those in the guilty condition engaged in a mock crime while those in the not guilty condition were informed that a crime had been committed. Peer jurors were presented with video interrogations of the DLD (6 guilty, 6 not guilty) and TL (6 guilty, 6 not guilty) participants and were asked to make categorical judgments of guilty and not guilty and to indicate confidence in their judgments. RESULTS: In general, peer jurors were not accurate in their judgments of the accused, and were more likely to judge individuals with DLD as guilty relative to accused individuals with TL. Peer jurors were particularly poor at judging innocent adults with DLD as not guilty and guilty adults with TL as guilty. Despite this, peer jurors were more confident than not in their guilty and not guilty determinations. CONCLUSIONS: Peer jurors are confident in their judgments of the guilt of the accused when they should not be, particularly in the case of accused adults with DLD. Implications are discussed.

Traditional social learning predicts cyber deviance? Exploring the offending versatility thesis in social learning theory.

Social learning theory has been widely implemented to understand cyber deviance. Nevertheless, the antecedent scholarship homogenously nested in the perspective of offending specification, leaving the offending versatility thesis unattained. The lack of such studies may undermine the capability of comprehensively understanding the social learning patterns of online offending. Using a sample of 3741 Chinese college students, this study estimated an array of binary logistic regressions to compare the effects of traditional and online social learning in four types of online offending (online sexual harassment, cyberbullying, hacking, and digital piracy). The results suggest that offending versatility and offending specification co-exist in the social learning process of cyber deviance, while offending specification explains a marginally greater variance. Besides, online learning variables act as potential mediators in the relationships between traditional learning and cyber deviance. Furthermore, traditional social learning shows greater predictive power in cyber-enabled crimes than in cyber-dependent crimes. Our study provides fresh empirical evidence for the non-exclusive association between offending versatility and offending specification in the social learning process of cyber deviance.

Effectiveness of substance use disorder treatment as an alternative to imprisonment.

INTRODUCTION: Drug courts are criminal justice programs to divert people with substance use disorders from incarceration into treatment. Drug courts have become increasingly popular in the US and other countries. However, their effectiveness in reducing important public health outcomes such as recidivism and substance-related health harms remains ambiguous and contested. We used nationwide register data from Sweden to evaluate the effectiveness of contract treatment sanction, the Swedish version of drug court, in reducing substance misuse, adverse somatic and mental health outcomes, and recidivism. METHODS: In this prospective cohort study, two quasi-experimental designs were used: difference-in-differences and the within-individual design. In the latter, we compared the risk of outcomes during time on contract treatment to, 1) parole after imprisonment and, 2) probation. RESULTS: The cohort included 11,893 individuals (13% women) who underwent contract treatment. Contract treatment was associated with a reduction of 7 percentage points (95% CI: -.088, -.055) in substance misuse, 5 percentage points (-.064, -.034) in adverse mental health events, 9 percentage points (-.113, -.076) in adverse somatic health events, and 3 fewer charges (-3.16, -2.85) for crime in difference-in-differences analyses. Within-individual associations suggested that the same individual had longer times-to-event for all outcomes during contract treatment than on parole or on probation. CONCLUSIONS: Contract treatment is an effective intervention from both public health and criminal justice perspective. Our findings suggest that it is a superior alternative to incarceration in its target group. Further, we find that an implementation approach that is less punitive and more inclusive than what is typical in the US can be successful.

Structural inequalities, knife crime: A qualitative study.

The importance and impact of youth violence is increasingly being recognised and is a cause of international concern. In the UK, youth violence, specifically knife crime, is on the increase and has resulted in the deaths of many young people. In order to explore the impact of knife crimes on mental health and wellbeing of individuals, a number of focus groups were conducted with 24 professionals from multiple agencies. Qualitative analysis showed various emerging themes, which included ineffective mental health systems, structural violence and inequalities, policing, safety and community engagement, vulnerability and resilience in minority communities. Equity in mental health services, further development and roll-out of public mental health approaches and training accompanied by sufficient resources is needed.

Using the Synthetic Control Method to Evaluate the Impact of a Land-Based Gambling Ban on Crime.

We use the synthetic control method to examine whether land-based gambling ban has an effect on crime in a given city. In a sample of four Czech cities where the ban was introduced, we show that these cities had roughly the same crime rate development in the years after the ban as the control cities without the ban, showing that there is no significant impact. As this is, to our knowledge, the first use of the synthetic control method in the context of gambling, the main contribution of this study lies in demonstrating the possibilities in its use. Employing this versatile method may improve the current situation where many gambling impact studies suffer from the absence of a control group or an identification strategy to confirm causal relationship. Last but not least, the results of this study make an important contribution to the debate on blanket measures in gambling regulation; although pathological gambling is linked to crime, banning this activity may not lead to the expected consequences.

Examining the causal effects of exposure to violence on crime among youth involved in the justice system: Experienced, witnessed, and experienced-witnessed violence.

Previous studies on exposure to violence lack a nuanced understanding of the causal effects of different exposure types on offending behaviors. This study, drawing on Pathways to Desistance Study (PDS) data tracking 1354 adjudicated youths aged 14-18 over 7 years, explores the contemporaneous (cross-sectional), acute (after 1 year), enduring (after 3 years), and long-term (after 6 years) causal effects of violence exposure on property and violent offending. The sample, predominantly male (86%), consisted of White (20%), Black (42%), and other (38%) individuals. The generalized propensity score is used to match unbalanced covariates across multiple exposure types, namely noninvolved (n = 392), witnessed (n = 577), experienced (n = 31), and experienced-witnessed violence (n = 305). Results demonstrate the contemporaneous, acute, enduring, and long-term effects of violence exposure on both violent and property offending, with varying durations and strengths across exposure types. The most pronounced risk effects are immediate, diminishing over time and potentially reversing in the long term as youth transition into adulthood. Among exposure types, experienced-witnessed violence exhibits the most potent effects on offending, followed by witnessed violence and then experienced violence-a pattern consistent across the observed time points. Noteworthy is the finding that the impact of violence exposure is more pronounced for violent offending, diminishing more rapidly compared to the effects on property offending.

Sleep disorders and criminal behavior.

Behaviors that would otherwise be considered criminal acts, but occur in the context of a sleep disorder, pose challenges to the traditional application of legal principles of criminal responsibility. Determining the degree to which consciousness is present during such behaviors becomes a necessary step in assigning criminal culpability. Historically, legal defense theories of unconsciousness, automatism, and insanity have been raised to negate culpability for parasomnia related behaviors. Accordingly, proper assessment of sleep disorders in the context of criminal charges becomes critical in assisting the functions of the justice system. This article reviews principles related to the legal tradition, expert assessment, and elements of expert testimony related to criminal behaviors and sleep disorders.

Nutritional Criminology: Why the Emerging Research on Ultra-Processed Food Matters to Health and Justice.

There is mounting concern over the potential harms associated with ultra-processed foods, including poor mental health and antisocial behavior. Cutting-edge research provides an enhanced understanding of biophysiological mechanisms, including microbiome pathways, and invites a historical reexamination of earlier work that investigated the relationship between nutrition and criminal behavior. Here, in this perspective article, we explore how this emergent research casts new light and greater significance on previous key observations. Despite expanding interest in the field dubbed 'nutritional psychiatry', there has been relatively little attention paid to its relevancy within criminology and the criminal justice system. Since public health practitioners, allied mental health professionals, and policymakers play key roles throughout criminal justice systems, a holistic perspective on both historical and emergent research is critical. While there are many questions to be resolved, the available evidence suggests that nutrition might be an underappreciated factor in prevention and treatment along the criminal justice spectrum. The intersection of nutrition and biopsychosocial health requires transdisciplinary discussions of power structures, industry influence, and marketing issues associated with widespread food and social inequalities. Some of these discussions are already occurring under the banner of 'food crime'. Given the vast societal implications, it is our contention that the subject of nutrition in the multidisciplinary field of criminology-referred to here as nutritional criminology-deserves increased scrutiny. Through combining historical findings and cutting-edge research, we aim to increase awareness of this topic among the broad readership of the journal, with the hopes of generating new hypotheses and collaborations.

Looking more criminal: It's not so black and white.

Prior research regarding the influence of face structure on character judgments and first impressions reveals that bias for certain face-types is ubiquitous, but these studies primarily used decontextualized White faces for stimuli. Given the disadvantages Black men face in the legal system, this study aimed to investigate whether the criminal face-type presented in the context of crime influenced different legal system-type judgments as a function of perpetrator race. In a mixed-model design, participants saw Black and White computer-generated faces that varied in criminality presented with either violent or nonviolent crime scenarios. At test, participants attempted to identify the original perpetrator from a photo array, along with providing penalty severity judgments for the crime committed. Results indicate that when crimes were violent, participants meted harsher penalties overall to Black faces or to high-criminality faces identified as the perpetrator. Furthermore, for violent crimes, participants were more likely to select a face from the photo array that was higher/equally as high in criminality rating relative to the actual perpetrator when memory failed or when the perpetrator was Black. Overall, the findings suggest that when people are making judgments that could influence another's livelihood, they may rely heavily on facial cues to criminality and the nature of the crime; and this is especially the case for Black faces presented in the context of violent crime. The pattern of results provides further support for the pervasive stereotype of Black men as criminal, even in our racially diverse sample wherein 36% identified as Black.

Association Between Individual Differences in Dichotomous Thinking and Current and Childhood High-Crime Environments.

The way people perceive the things around them is closely related to living in a complex and challenging social environment. Dichotomous thinking (preference for dichotomy, dichotomous belief, and profit-and-loss thinking), which classifies things in a simple way, can be useful in dangerous and resource-limited environments. However, based on prior studies, people's manner of perceiving things may have developed as a response to the harshness of their childhood environment, and may not be related to their current environment. Therefore, we examined the relationship between individual differences in dichotomous thinking and high-crime environments as indicators of environmental harshness. We assessed dichotomous thinking in 41,284 Japanese residents using large-scale data from the Human Information Database FY19 compiled by NTT DATA Institute of Management Consulting, Inc. The fixed effects regression model showed that, after controlling for age, high-crime environment of the residents' childhood was associated with dichotomous thinking, with the exception of dichotomous belief. On the other hand, their current environment of crime was not associated. In sum, our research suggests that people's dichotomous thinking tendency may be a form of adaptation to the harshness of their childhood environment rather than their current one.

Associations between individual cognitive factors, mode of exposure and depression symptoms in practitioners working with aversive crime material.

Background: There is extensive literature on front-line officers and investigators exposure to trauma and its negative impact on them. However, there are analytical practitioners in law enforcement who indirectly work with the traumatic experiences of other people daily, but are seldom the focus of academic research.Objective: Our goal was to conduct the first international study with these practitioners to identify the risk of depression symptoms and establish whether potentially modifiable risk factors (belief in a just world, mental imagery and thought suppression) and work-related characteristics (medium of exposure) are associated with depression.Method: 99 analysts and secondary investigators employed in police and law enforcement organizations from the UK, Europe and Canada participated in the study. The online survey was advertised to employees via their employers but hosted without employer access. Multiple regression was used to analyze the data.Results: After controlling for age, gender, ethnicity, previous exposure to trauma, and marital status, four potential risk factors were identified. Analytical practitioners with vivid mental imagery, those exposed to crime material via auditory and visual means, those who suppressed intrusive thoughts, and those who believed in a just world reported more depressive symptoms.Conclusions: The majority of our sample reported clinical levels of depressive symptoms. Four potential risk factors accounted for just under half of the variance in depression scores. We consider strategies that can be used to mitigate the potential negative influence of these factors and suggest that these are established as risk factors for depression symptoms via future longitudinal research.

Analytical practitioners are exposed to aversive crime material on a daily basis. The impact of their work and the individual and work-related risk factors are currently unknown.In this sample, 52% of analytical practitioners had moderate depression symptoms, and 37% had severe depression symptoms.Modality of exposure (both auditory and visual exposure), belief in a just world, thought suppression, and mental imagery are potential modifiable risk factors.