Temperament and Offending Behaviors in Male Adolescents.

The aim of the current paper was to examine temperament profiles and temperament dimensions as risk factors for persistent criminal behavior in juveniles who offended (JOs). A sample of 137 male adolescents from a Swiss detention center and 137 age and sex matched community controls were included in the present study. Temperament was measured with the Junior Temperament and Character Inventory (JTCI). Using Latent Profile Analysis (LPA), three temperament profiles were found, a "moderate," an "adventurous-disinhibited" (higher levels of novelty seeking, lower levels of harm avoidance, reward dependence, and persistence), and a "worried-passive" profile (higher levels of harm avoidance, low persistence). None of the profiles and dimensions were associated with detention sample (i.e., JO) status. In JOs, the "novelty seeking" scale predicted recidivism after release from detention even when controlling for other covariates. Further research should address temperament profiles and temperament dimensions in larger samples of JOs to elaborate their relation to previous and future offending behavior.

What Kind of Therapy Works With Juveniles Who Have Sexually Offended? A Randomized-Controlled Trial of Two Versions of a Specialized Cognitive Behavioral Outpatient Treatment Program.

There is ongoing debate about whether specialized treatment is effective to reduce sexual recidivism in juveniles who have sexually offended (JSOs). Although most treatment programs are based on cognitive behavioral therapy principles for preventing sexual offending, accordant scientific evidence is poor. Following CONSORT guidelines, the present study aimed to evaluate two versions of a short-term outpatient treatment program for JSOs in Switzerland: (a) the Therapy Program for Adequate Sexual Behaviors Version 1 (ThePaS-I), which included offending-specific skills training; (b) the ThePaS-II, which included general socioemotional skills training. Based on changes in self-reported mental health, sexual behaviors, victim empathy, and therapist-rated risk, as well as comprehensive data on sexual and general recidivism, we found some similarities regarding the effects of the two treatments. ThePaS-II showed better short-term changes in self-reported mental health than the ThePaS-I. However, JSOs in the ThePaS-I showed lower rates of sexual reoffending (but not general reoffending) after treatment than those in the ThePaS-II. Despite some methodological limitations, the current findings favor offending-specific skills-based therapy over general skills-based ones for preventing sexual reoffenses. The findings may encourage further methodologically sound studies to examine different treatment approaches for juveniles and adults who have committed criminal offenses.

Patterns and Predictors of Reincarceration among Prisoners with Serious Mental Illness: A Cohort Study: Modèles et prédicteurs de réincarcération chez les prisonniers souffrant de maladie mentale grave : Une étude de cohorte.

BACKGROUND: A small proportion of people who have serious mental illness and rapid and frequent incarcerations account for a disproportionate amount of overall service use and cost. It is important to describe such individuals, so that services can respond more effectively. METHODS: We investigated a cohort of 4,704 incarcerated men and women who were discharged from a correctional mental health service and followed for a median of 535 days. We investigated social, clinical, demographic, and offense characteristics as predictors of return to the service using Cox survival analyses. Secondly, we characterized individuals as high-frequency service users as those who had 3 or more incarcerations during a 1-year period and investigated their characteristics. RESULTS: We found that a higher rate of return to custody was associated with schizophrenia spectrum/bipolar affective disorder (BPAD), personality disorder traits, crack cocaine and methamphetamine use, and unstable housing. Charges of theft/robbery and breach of probation were also positively associated, and sex assault was negatively associated with return to custody. Within a 1-year time period, we found 7.2% of individuals were high-frequency service users, which accounted for 19.5% of all reincarcerations. CONCLUSION: Identification of the characteristics of those with mental illness in custody, especially those who have high-frequency returns to custody, may provide opportunity to target resources more effectively. The primary targets of intervention would be to treat those with schizophrenia/BPAD and substance use problems, particularly those using stimulants, and addressing homelessness. This could reduce the problem of repeated criminalization of the mentally ill and reduce the overall incarceration rate.

Mental Health Problems in Girls Who Committed Sexual Offenses: Similarities and Differences Compared to Girls With Non-sex Offenses and Boys With Sex Offenses.

Female juvenile offenders have only recently shifted into the focus of research. Moreover, a specific subgroup, female juveniles who sexually offended (JSO) are greatly overlooked. Therefore, there is a dearth of knowledge regarding the characteristics of female JSOs. The aim of the current study was to explore mental health problems (MHP) of female JSOs in more detail. Moreover, we compared their mental health with female juveniles who committed non-sexual offenses (JNSOs) and male JSOs. The sample comprised 33 female JSOs (Mean age 14.5, SD 1.8), 33 age-matched female JNSOs, and 33 age-matched male JSOs. We used the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument-version 2 to examine MHP. Although both internalizing and externalizing MHP were not uncommon in female JSOs, they reported fewer problems than female JNSOs. No differences were found between female and male JSOs. With regard to their mental health profile, female JSOs resemble male JSOs more than female JNSOs. These results should be taken into account in the assessment and treatment of this group. However, more research is needed.

[Dialectical behavior therapy approaches with disruptive behavior disorders]. / Dialektisch-behaviorale Behandlungsansätze bei aggressiven Verhaltensstörungen.

Disruptive behaviour disorders comprise the diagnosis conduct disorder (CD) and in adults the diagnosis antisocial personality disorder (APD). CD is seen as a difficult-to-treat disorder with a high risk for persistent behavioral problems. In addition, CD is seen as the precursor to antisocial personality disorder (Kretschmer et al., 2014). Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) was originally developed by Marsha Linehan (1991) for the treatment of borderline personality disorder, but because of the core deficits in emotion regulation in disruptive behavior disorders, DBT is also increasingly being recommended for the treatment of CD and APD. This review presents DBT adaptions for the forensic setting and for the treatment of CD/APD. Clinical implications are discussed.