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.

Association of childhood externalizing, internalizing, comorbid problems with criminal convictions by early adulthood.

Childhood externalizing problems have been linked with adult criminality. However, little is known about criminal outcomes among children with comorbid externalizing and internalizing problems. We examined the associations between profiles of behavioral problems during childhood (i.e., externalizing, internalizing, and comorbid) and criminality by early adulthood. Participants were N = 3017 children from the population-based Quebec Longitudinal Study of Kindergarten Children followed up from age 6-25. Multitrajectory modeling of teacher-rated externalizing and internalizing problems from age 6-12 years identified four distinct profiles: no/low, externalizing, internalizing, and comorbid problems. Juvenile (age 13-17) and adult (age 18-25) criminal convictions were extracted from official records. Compared to children in the no/low profile, those in the externalizing and comorbid profiles were at higher risk of having a criminal conviction, while no association was found for children in the internalizing profile. Children with comorbid externalizing and internalizing problems were most at risk of having a criminal conviction by adulthood, with a significantly higher risk when compared to children with externalizing or internalizing problems only. Similar results were found when violent and non-violent crimes were investigated separately. Specific interventions targeting early comorbid behavioral problems could reduce long-term criminality.

Adult psychiatric and psychosocial outcomes of children with mild intellectual disability: a register follow-up of a population-based cohort.

BACKGROUND: Very few longitudinal psychiatric and psychosocial outcome studies of children with mild intellectual disability (MID) have been performed. METHODS: The study group was population based and consisted of 82 individuals, born in 1979-1985 and diagnosed in childhood at ages between 3 and 15 years with MID. In the present study, register data regarding school attendance, employment, economic situation, psychiatric diagnoses and criminal sentences were retrieved for the years 1997-2018, when the individuals were up to 39 years old. RESULTS: At follow-up, data were obtained for 78 of the 82 individuals (47 male and 31 female). Mean age at follow-up was 36 years. Of the 78 individuals, 57 (73%) had exclusively received education for pupils with MID, but 21 (27%) had graduated from regular education of some sort (at least 9 years). Forty-four (56%) had never been employed, and 34 (44%) had been registered as employed for at least a shorter period. Forty-seven (60%) had received a sick pension at some point in adulthood. Of the 78 individuals, 44 (56%) had any psychiatric disorder recorded and about half of these (n = 21) had had inpatient treatment. A total of 31 of the 44 individuals in psychiatric care (70%) had ID noted as one of their diagnoses. Of the 78 individuals, 48 (62%) had support from the Act concerning Support and Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments (Swedish LSS law) as adults. Twenty-one individuals (27%) had had a criminal conviction, of whom five male individuals had been incarcerated. CONCLUSIONS: Individuals with MID constitute a heterogeneous group with regard to severity of functional impairment, co-occurring psychiatric disorders and need of support from society. Primary health care, psychiatry and habilitation services need to work together in order to meet the multiple needs of this group.

The impact of childhood maltreatment on aggression, criminal risk factors, and treatment trajectories in forensic psychiatric patients.

Introduction: Children's development into healthy well-functioning adults can be negatively affected by adversity. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been shown to lead to a variety of poor life outcomes, ranging from mental health problems (e.g., anxiety or suicidality) through problematic health behaviors to serious physical diseases and even early death. ACEs can also make people more prone to aggressive behavior, criminality, and recidivism. In this study, we investigated the association between ACEs, specifically childhood maltreatment (CM), and forensically relevant factors; aggression, criminal risk factors, and treatment trajectories, as little is known about these associations in forensic psychiatric patients. Methods: The study includes data derived from two studies in The Netherlands, of which the first study enrolled 128 patients residing in a Forensic Psychiatric Center (FPC) and the second study included 468 patients who were released unconditionally from FPCs between 2009 and 2013. We expected that more CM would be correlated with higher levels of aggression, higher clinical risk factor scores, and less decrease in clinical risk factor scores over time. To investigate this, we applied correlational analyses and linear growth curve modeling on risk assessment scores and self-report as well as staff report questionnaires on CM and aggression. Results: Consistent with our first hypothesis, patients with higher CM scores also had higher aggression and risk assessment scores. The effect sizes were small to medium (0.12 to 0.34). Unexpectedly, CM did not influence the course of these treatment trajectories, however, we found that patients with histories of CM had a significantly longer length of stay in a forensic facility than patients without CM (respectively, 10.8 years and 9.3 years on average). Discussion: This study underlines the importance of carefully examining the history of ACEs and CM in forensic psychiatric patients and considering this in forensic risk assessment and risk guided treatment. More research is needed to draw conclusions about whether and how histories of ACEs should be considered and targeted during treatment trajectories.

Problematic parental substance use, childhood family structures and adverse outcomes in young adulthood.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between childhood family structures, including the presence or absence of problematic parental substance use (PPSU), and adverse outcomes during adolescence/young adulthood. Methods: The study population included 9,770 young people (aged 15-25 years) from samples drawn for two national surveys in Denmark during 2014-2015. By combining surveys with national register data, five types of childhood family structures were constructed based on whether the child experienced PPSU and/or family separation and the number of years the child lived with a parent with substance use problems. Using binary logistic regression models, the relationships between family structure and adverse outcomes in young adulthood (i.e., hospital admissions, mental disorders and criminality) were investigated. Results: Young people who experienced PPSU and did not live with both parents had higher odds of the different long-term adverse outcomes compared with young people who did not experience PPSU, and similar odds of the outcomes compared to youth who had not experienced PPSU and did not live with both parents. The highest odds of adverse outcomes were found among young people who experienced PPSU and lived with the parent with substance use problems for less than five years. Conclusions: Living with both parents protected against adverse outcomes in young adulthood, and if PPSU was present, the odds of adverse outcomes increased. The hypothesis that there would be a positive association between years living with a parent with substance use problems and adverse outcomes in young adulthood was not supported. Awareness should be raised in health service, educational and legal institutions about the risk for young people from families with PPSU who do not live with both parents.

Childhood Adversity Determines the Syndemic Effects of Violence, Substance Misuse, and Sexual Behavior on Psychotic Spectrum Disorder Among Men.

BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESIS: Childhood adversity (CA) increases the risk for several adult psychiatric conditions. It is unclear why some exposed individuals experience psychotic symptoms and others do not. We investigated whether a syndemic explained a psychotic outcome determined by CA. STUDY DESIGN: We used self-reported cross-sectional data from 7461 British men surveyed in different population subgroups. Latent class analysis (LCA) identified categorical psychopathological outcomes. LCs were tested by interaction analysis between syndemic factors derived from confirmatory factor analysis according to CA experiences. Pathway analysis using partial least squares path modeling. RESULTS: A 4-class model with excellent fit identified an LC characterized by both psychotic and anxiety symptoms (class 4). A syndemic model of joint effects, adducing a 3-component latent variable of substance misuse (SM), high-risk sexual behavior (SH), violence and criminality (VC) showed synergy between components and explained the psychotic outcome (class 4). We found significant interactions between factor scores on the multiplicative scale, specific only to class 4 (psychosis), including SM × SH, SH × VC, and SM × VC (OR > 1, P < .05); and on the additive scale SM × SH (relative excess risk due to interaction >0, P < .05), but only for men who experienced CA. CONCLUSION: Multiplicative synergistic interactions between SM, SH, and VC constituted a mechanism determining a psychotic outcome, but not for anxiety disorder, mixed anxiety disorder/depression, or depressive disorder. This was specific to men who had experienced CA along direct and syndemic pathways. Population interventions should target SM and VC in adulthood but prioritize primary prevention strategies for CA.

Violence in first-episode psychosis: evidence from an early intervention in psychosis programme.

BACKGROUND: Psychotic disorders are frequently associated with a public perception of dangerousness and belligerence. This situation has contributed to the social stigmatisation of people with severe mental illness and the resulting discrimination that this scenario entails. Despite efforts to demystify such disorders, the association between violent behaviour and psychosis remains unclear. AIMS: To explore the incidence of the main types of violent offences in a cohort of patients presenting with first-episode psychosis (FEP). METHOD: Participants were recruited from the First Episode Psychosis Intervention Program (CRUPEP) cohort between 2009 and 2016. The main clinical variables were collected, including medical-forensic records of participants registered at the Basque Institute of Forensic Medicine (BIFM), to identify any violent acts in which participants were involved, either as victims or as offenders. RESULTS: Overall, 79.5% (n = 182) of the participants had no record of violent crime or offence recorded in the BIFM. Annual crime rates for the 2009-2016 period show a decreasing trend in both the general population (IRR = 0.981, 95% CI 0.978-0.983, P < 0.001) and in the FEP group (IRR = 0.019, 95% CI 0.012-0.028, P < 0.001); this pattern is more pronounced in the FEP group. Victimisation accounted for the vast majority of reported incidents; nevertheless, participants who had committed violent offences were mostly involved in intrafamily violence. CONCLUSIONS: Individuals with FEP were not involved in a higher number of crimes than the general population. The types of violent acts committed by people with FEP were heterogeneous, with extreme violence being particularly uncommon.

Criminology and identity: A theoretical review / Criminología e identidad: una revisión teórica / Criminologia e identidade: uma revisão teórica

This article is a literature review describing and analysing the main theoretical and empirical developments that have addressed the concept of identity and its role in crime based on criminology and other disciplines. The literature review was based on a search both in Spanish and English in the Web of Knowledge, Scopus, and Scielo databases. The exposition of theoretical proposals follows a chronological and disciplinary field order, including identity perspective, the sociology of deviance, developmental criminology, and several of the leading contemporary approaches. It highlights the dissemination and importance of identity perspective between the 1950s and 1970s and the subsequent criticism that it was reductionist, lacking theoretical support, and not in dialogue with other criminological proposals. Thereupon, emphasis is placed on the subsequent contributions and proposals, which demonstrate the consistency of the concept, as well as its versatility and articulation with different disciplinary approaches to the understanding of the criminal phenomenon. The conclusion highlights the richness of the concept, its projections, and the importance of its revitalisation.

Este artículo es una revisión bibliográfica en la que se describen y analizan los principales desarrollos tanto teóricos como empíricos que han abordado el concepto de identidad y su rol asociado a la delincuencia, desde la criminología y otras disciplinas. La revisión bibliográfica se basó en una búsqueda en español e inglés en las bases de datos Web of Knowledge, Scopus y Scielo. La exposición de propuestas teóricas sigue un orden cronológico y de campo disciplinar, incluyendo la perspectiva de la identidad, la sociología de la desviación, la criminología del desarrollo y algunos de los principales planteamientos contemporáneos. Se destaca la difusión e importancia que tuvo la perspectiva de la identidad entre los años cincuenta y setenta, y la posterior crítica que la señaló como reduccionista, carente de sustento teórico y poco dialogante con otras propuestas criminológicas. Luego se enfatiza en las contribuciones y propuestas posteriores, las que dan cuenta de la consistencia del concepto, así como de su versatilidad y articulación con distintas aproximaciones disciplinares abocadas a la comprensión del fenómeno delictivo. Se concluye destacando la riqueza del concepto, sus proyecciones y la importancia de su revitalización.

Este artigo é uma revisão bibliográfica que descreve e analisa os principais desenvolvimentos teóricos e empíricos que abordaram o conceito de identidade e seu papel associado ao crime, a partir da criminologia e de outras disciplinas. A revisão bibliográfica baseou-se em uma busca em espanhol e inglês nas bases de dados Web of Knowledge, Scopus e Scielo. A apresentação das propostas teóricas segue uma ordem cronológica e disciplinar de campo, incluindo a perspectiva identitária, a sociologia do desvio, a criminologia do desenvolvimento e algumas das principais abordagens contemporâneas. Destaca-se a difusão e importância que a perspectiva identitária teve entre as décadas de 1950 e 1970. E as críticas posteriores que a apontaram como reducionista, carente de respaldo teórico e pouco diálogo com outras propostas criminológicas. Em seguida, destacam-se as contribuições e propostas subsequentes, que dão conta da consistência do conceito, bem como da sua versatilidade e articulação com diferentes abordagens disciplinares destinadas à compreensão do fenómeno criminal. Conclui-se destacando a riqueza do conceito, suas projeções e a importância de sua revitalização.

El sicariato: una mirada al fenómeno desde la perspectiva criminológica / Contract assasination: a criminological perspective on the phenomenon / Sicariato: uma perspectiva criminológica sobre o fenômeno

Antecedentes: el sicariato es un fenómeno de violencia que afecta a la sociedad contemporánea, en medio de valores relativos al respeto de la vida y la integridad humana. En Colombia, los datos y cifras de los homicidios evidencian que durante los años 2017-2020 se presentaron aproximadamente 26 161 casos en la modalidad sicariato; las motivaciones se asocian fundamentalmente al narcotráfico, economías ilegales, disputas territoriales y factores sociales. Objetivo: identificar la etimología de la palabra "sicario", características, investigaciones y algunas tendencias generacionales sobre el sicariato. Método: este estudio se realizó desde un enfoque cualitativo, diseño documental mediante la revisión de algunas teorías sobre subculturas criminales (Cohen, 1955), el aprendizaje de la conducta delictiva (Sutherland, 1974), aprendizaje social (Bandura, 1987; Becker, 1974), crimen y castigo (Bourdieu, 1997), el entorno social que lo rodea y economía criminal, otros autores y revisión bases de datos: Mendeley, Proquest, Redalyc, base, BBC learning english, entre otros. Resultados: este trabajo permitió recoger conceptos, características, tendencias delictivas y análisis criminológicos del fenómeno; se establecen algunas tipologías, por modus operandi y capacidad del perpetrador del hecho punible, surgimiento del sicariato en Colombia y algunas características de los códigos de conducta de las dos últimas generaciones de sicarios. Finalmente, se plantean las conclusiones.

Background: hired assassination is a phenomenon of violence that affects contemporary society, amidst values related to respect for life and human integrity. In Colombia, homicide data and figures show that during the years 2017-2020 there were approximately 26 161 cases in the form of hired killings; the motivations mainly associated with drug trafficking, illegal economies, territorial disputes and social factors. Objective: to identify the etymology of the word "sicario", characteristics, research and some generational trends regarding contract killing. Method: this study was conducted based on a qualitative approach, documentary design by reviewing several theories on criminal subcultures (Cohen, 1955), learning about criminal behaviour (Sutherland, 1974), social learning (Bandura, 1987; Becker, 1974), crime and punishment (Bourdieu, 1997) and the surrounding social environment and criminal economy, studying other authors and reviewing the databases: Mendeley, Proquest, Redalyc, base, BBC learning English, among others. Results: this work allowed the collection of concepts, characteristics, criminal trends and criminological analysis of the phenomenon; some typologies are established, by modus operandi and capacity of the perpetrator of the punishable act, the emergence of assasination by contract in Colombia and some characteristics of the codes of conduct of the last two generations of hitmen. Finally, conclusions are drawn.

Antecedentes: o sicariato ou o assassinato contratado é um fenômeno de violência que afeta a sociedade contemporânea, em meio a valores relacionados ao respeito à vida e à integridade humana. Na Colômbia, os dados e números de homicídios mostram que, durante 2017 e 2020, houve aproximadamente 26 161 casos na forma de sicariato ou assassinatocontratado; as motivações estão associadas principalmente ao tráfico de drogas, economias ilegais, disputas territoriais e fatores sociais. Objetivo: identificar a etimologia da palavra "sicário", características, pesquisas e algumas tendências geracionais sobre o sicariato. Método: este estudo foi realizado a partir de uma abordagem qualitativa, com desenho documental, por meio da revisão de algumas teorias sobre subculturas criminais (Cohen, 1955), aprendizagem do comportamento criminoso (Sutherland, 1974), aprendizagem social (Bandura, 1987; Becker, 1974), crime e castigo (Bourdieu, 1997), ambiente social circundante e economia criminal, outros autores e bancos de dados de revisão: Mendeley, Proquest, Redalyc, base, BBC learning english, entre outros. Resultados: este trabalho permitiu a coleta de conceitos, características, tendências criminais e análise criminológica do fenômeno; são estabelecidas algumas tipologias, por modus operandi e capacidade do autor do ato punível, o surgimento do sicariato na Colômbia e algumas características dos códigos de conduta das duas últimas gerações de sicários. Por fim, são apresentadas as conclusões.

Unmasking Cybercrime with Artificial-Intelligence-Driven Cybersecurity Analytics.

Cybercriminals are becoming increasingly intelligent and aggressive, making them more adept at covering their tracks, and the global epidemic of cybercrime necessitates significant efforts to enhance cybersecurity in a realistic way. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the cybercrime threat landscape. Cybercrime has a significant impact on the gross domestic product (GDP) of every targeted country. It encompasses a broad spectrum of offenses committed online, including hacking; sensitive information theft; phishing; online fraud; modern malware distribution; cyberbullying; cyber espionage; and notably, cyberattacks orchestrated by botnets. This study provides a new collaborative deep learning approach based on unsupervised long short-term memory (LSTM) and supervised convolutional neural network (CNN) models for the early identification and detection of botnet attacks. The proposed work is evaluated using the CTU-13 and IoT-23 datasets. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves superior performance, obtaining a very satisfactory success rate (over 98.7%) and a false positive rate of 0.04%. The study facilitates and improves the understanding of cyber threat intelligence, identifies emerging forms of botnet attacks, and enhances forensic investigation procedures.

Association of aggressivity at adolescence and criminality to severe assault exposure among former adolescent psychiatric inpatients.

This study investigated the associations of adolescent aggression, and criminality, to severe hospital-treated assault exposures among young adults (n = 508) with a history of adolescent psychiatric inpatient treatment between 2001-2006. Participants were interviewed during hospitalization using K-SADS-PL to assess psychiatric disorders, and to obtain information on aggressivity. Data on crimes committed were obtained from the Finnish Legal Register Centre, and the treatment episodes for assault exposures from the Finnish National Care Register for Health Care, up to end of 2016. Predictors for severe assault exposure were male sex (OR = 2.1), short temperedness (OR = 2.4), non-violent offending (OR = 2.6), and violent offending (OR = 4.8). These results indicate that the participants most vulnerable to severe assaults were those suffering from a continuum of aggressivity across their lifetime. Our findings can be utilized to identify adolescents at risk of severe assault exposure, and to reduce this risk by focusing on appropriate treatments for these vulnerable adolescents.

Parent personality traits and problem behavior in adolescence: The mediating role of adolescent personality.

INTRODUCTION: Parental personality traits are predicted to influence offspring outcomes through parenting behavior and offspring personality traits. This study explored whether mother and father personality traits relate to offspring behavior problems in mid-late adolescence METHOD: In total, 3089 Australian adolescents (1576 boys, 1513 girls; Mage = 16.46 ± 0.50 years) and their parents completed questionnaires assessing personality, conduct problems, emotional and social functioning, antisocial and criminal behavior, cigarette smoking and drug use, at a single time-point. RESULTS: After controlling for sociodemographic factors, results showed that problem behaviors in adolescence were most consistently related to mothers' scores on neuroticism and conscientiousness, and fathers' scores on neuroticism. Father personality traits were most important for antisocial and criminal behavior, whereas mother personality traits were most important for social and emotional functioning. Moderation analysis showed that associations between fathers' personality traits and some adolescent outcomes (cigarette smoking and drug use) were stronger for adolescent boys than for adolescent girls. Mediation models further demonstrated that adolescent personality traits mediated associations between parent personality and adolescent outcomes in almost all cases. Indirect effects expressed as a percentage showed that between 1.4% and 33.3% of the variance in the association between parent personality and adolescent outcomes was shared with the corresponding adolescent personality trait. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the findings of this study provide evidence that traits inherited (directly or indirectly) from parents might have an important role in shaping problem behavior in adolescence.

Criminal Behaviour After Diagnosis of a Neurocognitive Disorder: A Nationwide Finnish Register Study.

OBJECTIVE: To explore criminal behavior of individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), or Lewy body dementias (LBD) after the diagnosis. DESIGN: Nationwide register study. SETTING: Information on diagnoses and criminality was received from Finnish registers. Crime types and incidences were compared between disorders and the general population. PARTICIPANTS: All Finnish individuals diagnosed with AD, LBD, or FTD (n = 92 189) during 1998-2015. MEASUREMENTS: Types of crimes and incidences, the standardized criminality ratio (SCR, number of actual crimes per number of expected crimes), numbers of observed cases, and person-years at risk counted in 5-year age groups and for both sexes and yearly. RESULTS: Among men, at least one crime was committed by 2.8% of AD, 7.2% of FTD, and 4.8% of LBD patients. Among women, the corresponding figures were 0.4%, 2.0%, and 2.1%. The most frequent type of crime was traffic offence, followed by property crime. After age adjustment, the relative number of crimes between groups did not differ, except that men with FTD and LBD committed more crimes than those with AD. The SCR (95% CI) among men were 0.40 (0.38-0.42) in AD, 0.45 (0.33-0.60) in FTD, and 0.52 (0.48-0.56) in LBD. Among women, these were 0.34 (0.30-0.38), 0.68 (0.39-1.09), and 0.59 (0.51-0.68). CONCLUSIONS: The diagnosis of a neurocognitive disorder does not increase criminal behavior, but rather reduces it by up to 50%. Differences in crime activity are present between different neurocognitive disorders and between the sexes.

A Moderated Mediation Analysis to Further Examine the Role of Verbal Intelligence in the Association Between Psychopathic Personality and Crime.

The current study examined the association between psychopathy, criminal behavior, and the role of verbal intelligence. One promising approach is to examine alternative links between psychopathic traits and criminality like moderation and mediation effects by considering the potential relevance of verbal intelligence as a possible moderating variable. We hypothesized that psychopathic traits linearly predict antisocial behavior (ASB) but that a conviction because of ASB is moderated by verbal intelligence. To test a path model of this hypothesis, N = 305 participants (42% women; n = 172 inmates of German correctional facilities) filled in questionnaires to assess psychopathic traits, ASB, criminal behavior, and verbal intelligence. The moderated mediation analysis revealed that high psychopathic traits go along with a higher number of ASB, whereas individuals with higher verbal intelligence were more likely to evade detection, thus being more successful in their antisocial acts. These results sheds further light on the construct of adaptive psychopathy, supporting the notion that also non-incarcerated psychopathic individuals act highly antisocial. Only separate factors like verbal intelligence might mitigate negative consequences. Further implications for the concept of successful psychopathy are discussed.

The HARM models: Predicting longitudinal physical aggression in patients with schizophrenia at an individual level.

The prediction and prevention of aggression in individuals with schizophrenia remains a top priority within forensic psychiatric settings. While risk assessment methods are well rooted in forensic psychiatry, there are no available tools to predict longitudinal physical aggression in patients with schizophrenia within forensic settings at an individual level. In the present study, we used evidence-based risk and protective factors, as well as variables related to course of treatment assessed at baseline, to predict prospective incidents of physical aggression (4-month, 12-month, and 18-month follow-up) among 151 patients with schizophrenia within the forensic mental healthcare system. Across our HARM models, the balanced accuracy (sensitivity + specificity/2) of predicting physical aggressive incidents in patients with schizophrenia ranged from 59.73 to 87.33% at 4-month follow-up, 68.31-80.10% at 12-month follow-up, and 46.22-81.63% at 18-month follow-up, respectively. Additionally, we developed separate models, using clinician rated clinical judgement of short term and immediate violent risk, as a measure of comparison. Several modifiable evidence-based predictors of prospective physical aggression in schizophrenia were identified, including impulse control, substance abuse, impulsivity, treatment non-adherence, mood and psychotic symptoms, substance abuse, and poor family support. To the best of our knowledge, our HARM models are the first to predict longitudinal physical aggression at an individual level in patients with schizophrenia in forensic settings. However, it is important to caution that since these machine learning models were developed in the context of forensic settings, they may not be generalisable to individuals with schizophrenia more broadly. Moreover, a low base rate of physical aggression was observed in the testing set (6.0-11.6% across timepoints). As such, larger cohorts will be required to determine the replicability of these findings.

Children Who Offend in Turkey: The Case of the Ankara Child Education Center.

This paper investigates the underlying causes of children's involvement in criminal behavior, and the rehabilitation programs which seek to reintegrate them into society after their release. The data needed were gathered from children's case files and semi-structured interviews with professionals who work in a child education institution. The findings of the study, which include the demographic and socio-economic background of children who offend, the types of crimes they have committed, their causes, and the nature of the applied rehabilitation programs provided for the children who were serving their sentences in the education center are explained and discussed. It is found that these children are victims of social, cultural, economic, and political structures of the society. They are generally from migrants' families with middle and low incomes and live in gecekondu neighborhoods.1 Poor living conditions, lack of parental affection, poverty, deprivation, neglect, abuse, addiction, the lack of preventive and protective institutions, the lack of NGOs which work with children, are, inter alia, among the causes of youth crime in Turkey. A lack of engagement or intervention by local authorities or municipalities to tackle the problem of youth crime in their regions is a further factor. The problems are aggravated by a trial and prosecution process that takes up to 2 years. When pending trial, children receive almost no training or rehabilitation in institutions, and this impairs their personal development. There is an urgent need to establish a monitoring system which can regularly monitor children who offend and provide support for at least several months after their release. This would help children to reintegrate into society on a more positive level.

Challenges to Reintegration: A Qualitative Intrinsic Case-Study of Convicted Female Sex Traffickers.

Limited research focuses on the nature of the lived experiences of women engaged in sex trafficking. This study employed qualitative methods of in-depth structured interviews with ten convicted sex traffickers (ages 24-56; 100% identifying as female). Participants' lived experiences revealed circumstances that led them to trafficking, specific needs, and the stigmatization they faced after exiting economies tied to trafficking. Inductive analysis yielded three key barriers to reintegration success: limited choice; negative labeling; and unmet physical, emotional, and social needs. These findings enhance understanding of the factors influencing the successful reintegration of convicted female sex traffickers into mainstream society.

Decision-making under risk and theory of mind in adolescent offenders in provisional deprivation of liberty.

INTRODUCTION: Delinquent behaviors are risky behaviors that increase during puberty and reach their highest peak in late adolescence. It has been proposed that poor decision-making and theory of mind (ToM) are key cognitive processes implicated with delinquency during adolescence, affecting evaluation of risks and impairing appreciation of social norms. Nevertheless, it is not yet clear whether adolescent offenders who are subjected to provisional deprivation of liberty due to conflict with the law (adolescents in conflict with the law [ACL]) might, in fact, present a specific profile with regard to these cognitive processes. OBJECTIVES: To assess deliberative decision-making and ToM among adolescents in conflict with the law and adolescents not in conflict with the law. METHODS: The sample comprised 62 participants: ACL (n = 29) and a control group (CG) (n = 33). ToM was assessed with the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) and decision-making was assessed with the Columbia Card Task (CCT). Substance use, callous-unemotional traits, childhood maltreatment, and intelligence quotient (IQ) were also assessed. RESULTS: ACL had more ToM errors for negative mental states in comparison to CG, but not for error rates concerning neutral and positive mental states. With regards to decision-making, our results suggest that ACL group members did not vary their behavior based on the available information and that the risk information had an opposite effect on the number of cards chosen (risk-taking behavior) when compared to CG. CONCLUSION: These findings have important implications for development of interventions for these adolescents, suggesting that they tend to learn little from negative outcomes and have reduced capacity to process negative emotions.

An investigation of reliability and validity of the LS/CMI with French offenders.

INTRODUCTION: The Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (LS/CMI) is one of the best-known recidivism risk instruments. In France, this scale is rarely used because no study had yet been carried out to confirm its psychometric properties on samples of French offenders. The aim of this study was to test the psychometric properties of the LS/CMI on samples of violent French prisoners. METHOD: The Level of Service/Case Management Inventory, the BARR-2002R, Historical Clinic Risk-Scale 20 and the Risk for Sexual Violence Protocol were administered to 128 violent offenders. RESULTS-DISCUSSION: The results showed good internal consistency, reliability and convergent validity of the LS/CMI. Assault, robbery and sexual assault were correlated with the LS/CMI. All of these results are discussed and analysed using the international reference literature. CONCLUSION: Confirmation of the psychometric properties of the LS/CMI among French offenders to allow it to be used to assess the risk of recidivism of offenders.

Detecting dodgy behaviour: The role of autism, autistic traits and theory of mind.

LAY ABSTRACT: Difficulties in reading others' minds make it difficult to anticipate their future behaviour. It has often been argued that such difficulties contribute to autistic individuals becoming enmeshed in criminal activity. However, supportive scientific evidence is virtually non-existent. We compared the ability of groups of autistic and non-autistic adults of similar intellectual ability to detect dodgy or suspicious behaviour across a wide range of scenarios. Although the autistic group performed more poorly than the non-autistic group on an established measure of mindreading, there were no group differences in the ability to detect dodginess. Nor did we find any evidence that detecting dodgy behaviour was associated with the degree of autistic traits reported by individual participants. However, when we combined the two groups, difficulty reading the minds of others was indeed associated with poorer detection of dodginess, thus highlighting a characteristic of individuals that may well increase the likelihood of becoming involved in crime or exploited for autistic and non-autistic individuals alike.