Association of violence with urban points of interest.

The association between alcohol outlets and violence has long been recognised, and is commonly used to inform policing and licensing policies (such as staggered closing times and zoning). Less investigated, however, is the association between violent crime and other urban points of interest, which while associated with the city centre alcohol consumption economy, are not explicitly alcohol outlets. Here, machine learning (specifically, LASSO regression) is used to model the distribution of violent crime for the central 9 km2 of ten large UK cities. Densities of 620 different Point of Interest types (sourced from Ordnance Survey) are used as predictors, with the 10 most explanatory variables being automatically selected for each city. Cross validation is used to test generalisability of each model. Results show that the inclusion of additional point of interest types produces a more accurate model, with significant increases in performance over a baseline univariate alcohol-outlet only model. Analysis of chosen variables for city-specific models shows potential candidates for new strategies on a per-city basis, with combined-model variables showing the general trend in POI/violence association across the UK. Although alcohol outlets remain the best individual predictor of violence, other points of interest should also be considered when modelling the distribution of violence in city centres. The presented method could be used to develop targeted, city-specific initiatives that go beyond alcohol outlets and also consider other locations.

Court sentences to forensic-psychiatric treatment and imprisonment in Germany: Types of crimes and changes from 1995 to 2009.

The management of mentally disordered offenders varies widely across countries. Given the high prevalence of individuals with mental disorders throughout the criminal justice system, it is not always clear why some people receive forensic treatment and others a prison sentence. This project investigated trends in criminal justice sentencing practices in Germany from 1995 to 2009. We analysed officially recorded data taken from 14,100,329 court rulings to describe differences in the index offences committed by individuals sentenced to prison of at least two years and those given a forensic treatment order. The distribution of offence types differed substantially. Forensic patients committed 6.6% of all severe crimes. There was a 50% increase in the number of forensic treatment orders compared to a 11.6% increase in the group of individuals sentenced for crimes of a similar severity. Forensic patients were more likely to have committed a serious offence. This paper provides key epidemiological data and offers a basis for future comparative research. It also concludes that these trends are indicative of a moderate penal policy, without a drift towards penal populism arguably visible in other jurisdictions. Instead, it is argued that the findings are consistent with actuarial social control policies oriented towards risk prediction and crime prevention of high-risk offender groups.

The impact of misdemeanor arrests on forensic mental health services: A state-wide review of Virginia sanity evaluations.

OBJECTIVE: We examined the prevalence of criminal defendants facing only misdemeanor charges and referred for forensic mental health evaluations of legal sanity (criminal responsibility) in a state-wide sample of sanity reports. We sought to describe this population of defendants, particularly as compared to defendants facing felony charges and referred for evaluation of legal sanity. HYPOTHESES: We hypothesized that, among those referred for sanity evaluations, defendants facing only misdemeanor charges would have higher rates of serious mental illness than would defendants charged with felonies, as evidenced by their mental status during the evaluation and at the time of alleged offenses. We also hypothesized that defendants charged with only misdemeanors would be more often opined insane, as compared to those charged with felonies. METHOD: We reviewed a statewide sample of 926 court-ordered sanity evaluation reports in Virginia and coded numerous variables describing the defendants, sanity evaluation process, resulting reports, and legal opinions offered within the reports. RESULTS: Approximately 22.3% of sanity evaluations involved defendants charged only with misdemeanor offenses. Defendants facing only misdemeanor charges were 1.82 times more likely to be opined insane than were defendants facing only felony charges, primarily due to their increased likelihood of experiencing psychotic symptoms at the time of the offense (1.83 times more likely than defendants facing felony charges). CONCLUSIONS: The merits of pursuing the insanity defense in response to misdemeanor charges are questionable given the cost- and resource-intensive outcomes associated with insanity acquittals. Diversion strategies may be a more efficient response to those defendants with serious mental illness facing only misdemeanor charges. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

The Temporal (In)Stability of the Unemployment and Crime Relationship.

The complex relationship between crime and economic change has had a long pedigree in criminological research. This article considers the temporal stability of the Cantor and Land model of unemployment and crime using a decomposition model of Canadian provinces, 1981 to 2009. We include multiple economic measures for a more comprehensive representation of economic performance, allowing for the estimates of long- and short-run unemployment effects to vary over time. We undertake this analysis considering 12 crime types, finding strong support for the Cantor and Land model in both property and violent crimes. However, in a number of cases, we find that there is significant variation of these relationships over time. This result implies that support for this model depends on the time period analyzed and that any policy derived from this model of unemployment and crime is time-period dependent.

Differentiating Individuals Convicted of Sexual Offenses: A Two-Country Latent Class Analysis.

Sexual offenses are often part of a larger criminal career also encompassing nonsexual crimes. However, most sexual offending typologies focus on an individual's most recent sexual offense. We compare data from Belgian and Dutch national conviction cohorts and use latent class analysis to distinguish groups of individuals based on their history of sexual and nonsexual offenses, considering continuity and variety. The resulting classification is compared between individuals convicted of sexual offenses and individuals convicted of nonsexual offenses. Results show that four latent classes can be distinguished based on continuity and variety in criminal histories of individuals convicted of sexual offenses, and that some of these classes resemble those distinguished among individuals convicted of nonsexual offenses. We find limited overlap between these latent classes and typologies based solely on the index offense. Results show marked similarities across countries. These results challenge theories of sexual offending to incorporate patterns of nonsexual offending.

Los delincuentes juveniles en Toledo (España) desde el año 2001 a 2012: características psicosociales, educativas y delictivas / Juvenile delinquents in Toledo (Spain) from 2001 to 2012: psychosocial, educational and criminal characteristics

Introducción: En este artículo se analizan los datos del equipo técnico (psicólogo, trabajador social y educador) del juzgado de menores de Toledo (España) desde el año 2001 a 2012. Metodología: Estudio descriptivo de la serie anual de una muestra de 3.333 menores infractores y de sus características psicosociales, educativas y delictivas. Resultados: En los últimos años de la serie se tiende a infracciones de mayor gravedad cometidas por chicos de mayor edad. Conclusiones: La delincuencia de menores en esta provincia desde el año 2001 se mantuvo constante hasta el año 2009, en el que se observa un destacado repunte para volver a bajar durante los años 2011 y 2012. Sin embargo, en los últimos años de la serie (a partir de 2008) se constata un aumento de la gravedad de los hechos, al ser significativamente más numerosos los delitos que las faltas. También se ha detectado que probablemente el sistema infradiagnostica a los menores infractores, tanto en problemas de salud mental como en consumo de alcohol y otras drogas. Por lo tanto, estos menores no se beneficiarían adecuadamente de las medidas impuestas por el sistema de justicia juvenil

Introduction: This paper presents an analysis of the data of the technical team (psychologist, social worker and educator) of the juvenile court of Toledo (Spain) from 2001 to 2012. Methodology: Descriptive study of the annual series of a sample of 3,333 juvenile offenders and their psychosocial, educational and criminal characteristics. Results: In the latter years of the series there tends to be infractions of greater gravity committed by older boys. Conclusions: Juvenile delinquency in the province of Toledo remained constant from 2001 until 2009, when a sharp increase was observed, which lowered again during the years 2011 and 2012. However, in the latter years of the series (starting 2008) an increase in the gravity of the acts is noted, with the number of crimes increasing more significantly than the misdemeanours. The team has also detected that perhaps institutions underestimate the diagnosis of the juvenile misdemeanours, even in mental health issues, such as abuse of alcohol and other substances. Therefore, these minors may not achieve the benefits of the justice youth system

[Classification of medical-criminalistic situational examinations]. / Klassifikatsiia mediko-kriminalisticheskikh situatsionnykh ékspertiz.

The aim of this study was to develop a detailed applied classification of medical-criminalistic situational examinations. This paper proposes a classification of importance for practice and research of medical-criminalistic expertise on the reconstruction of events. The basic criteria which determine how the classification of situational examinations is performed are considered.

Substance Use Risk Indicators and Offending Patterns Among Local Jail Inmates.

This study examined clinical indicators of adult jail inmates' substance use severity and offending patterns. Clinical assessment and booking data were gathered from a random sample of 283 adult inmates using the Comprehensive Addiction and Psychological Evaluation-5, which is consistent with diagnostic criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. Greater substance use risk was associated with increased likelihood of detention for property-related offenses, nonviolent offenses, and multiple jail admissions. Inmates with greater substance use risk were also significantly less likely to be detained for violent offenses. The assessment and coordination of care for jail inmates in local detention centers is paramount to reducing jail bookings, especially for nonviolent offenses.

Are psychological measures and actuarial data equally effective in discriminating among the prison population? Analysis by crimes.

The ability of a wide range of psychological and actuarial measures to characterize crimes in the prison population has not yet been compared in a single study. Our main objective was to determine if the discriminant capacity of psychological measures (PM) and actuarial data (AD) varies according to the crime. An Ecuadorian sample of 576 men convicted of Robbery, Murder, Rape and Drug Possession crimes was evaluated through an ad hoc questionnaire, prison files and the Spanish adaptation of the Personality Assessment Inventory. Discriminant analysis was used to establish, for each crime, the discriminant capacity and the classification accuracy of a model composed of AD (socio-demographic and judicial measures) and a second model incorporating PM. The AD showed a superior discriminant capacity, whilst the contribution of both types of measures varied according to the crime. The PM generated some increase in the correct classification percentages for Murder, Rape and Drug Possession, but their contribution was zero for the crime of Robbery. Specific profiles of each crime were obtained from the strongest significant correlations between the value of each explanatory variable and the probability of belonging to the crime. The AD model is more robust when these four crimes are characterized. The contribution of AD and PM depends on the crime, and the inclusion of PM in actuarial models moderately optimizes the classification accuracy of Murder, Rape, and Drug Possession crimes.

The scaling of crime concentration in cities.

Crime is a major threat to society's well-being but lacks a statistical characterization that could lead to uncovering some of its underlying mechanisms. Evidence of nonlinear scaling of urban indicators in cities, such as wages and serious crime, has motivated the understanding of cities as complex systems-a perspective that offers insights into resources limits and sustainability, but that usually neglects details of the indicators themselves. Notably, since the nineteenth century, criminal activities have been known to occur unevenly within a city; crime concentrates in such way that most of the offenses take place in few regions of the city. Though confirmed by different studies, this concentration lacks broad analyses on its characteristics, which hinders not only the comprehension of crime dynamics but also the proposal of sounding counter-measures. Here, we developed a framework to characterize crime concentration which divides cities into regions with the same population size. We used disaggregated criminal data from 25 locations in the U.S. and the U.K., spanning from 2 to 15 years of longitudinal data. Our results confirmed that crime concentrates regardless of city and revealed that the level of concentration does not scale with city size. We found that the distribution of crime in a city can be approximated by a power-law distribution with exponent α that depends on the type of crime. In particular, our results showed that thefts tend to concentrate more than robberies, and robberies more than burglaries. Though criminal activities present regularities of concentration, we found that criminal ranks have the tendency to change continuously over time-features that support the perspective of crime as a complex system and demand analyses and evolving urban policies covering the city as a whole.

On informing jurors of potential sanctions.

Two experiments tested (a) whether jurors make assumptions about the potential punishment that would follow from a guilty verdict, (b) whether those assumptions influence jurors' implicit threshold for reasonable doubt, and (c) whether informing jurors of the potential punishment additionally influences their implicit threshold. Experiment 1 manipulated the alleged crime (grand theft vs. manslaughter) holding all other factors constant, and found that mock jurors (n = 102, recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk) had different expectations about the relative punishments but that these expectations did not affect their implicit threshold for reasonable doubt. Experiment 2 manipulated the alleged crime as well as a judicial description of the potential punishment (e.g., term of incarceration of 2-6 vs. 7-20 years). Again, mock jurors (n = 297) were sensitive to the relative punishments, yet their implicit threshold did not differ on this basis. These findings call into question whether jurors should be informed of the potential punishment if the defendant is convicted, an argument advanced by several legal scholars. (PsycINFO Database Record

Crime seriousness and participation in restorative justice: The role of time elapsed since the offense.

Restorative justice policies and programs aimed at facilitating victim-offender mediation (VOM) are part of many criminal justice systems around the world. Given its voluntary nature and potential for positive outcomes, the appropriateness and feasibility of VOM after serious offenses is subject to debate in the literature. In light of this discussion, this study first aimed to unravel the prevalence of serious offenses in cases registered for VOM and examined whether crime seriousness predicts whether mediated contact is reached between victims and offenders. Second, it tested the hypothesis that victims of increasingly serious, harmful crimes are more willing to participate when more time has elapsed since the offense-in contrast to victims of less serious, harmful crimes. We analyzed 199 cases registered for VOM in the Netherlands and coded the perceived wrongfulness, harmfulness, and average duration of incarceration of an offense as 3 distinct indicators of crime seriousness in these cases. The findings revealed that cases registered for VOM (a) are, in terms of the incarceration duration, on average more serious than all offenses in the population, and (b) resulted in mediated contact (or not) independently of the 3 seriousness indicators. In addition, empirical support was found for the hypothesis that victims' willingness to participate in VOM increased over time after more harmful offenses, whereas it decreased when offenses inflicted less harm. These findings suggest that when VOM programs operate irrespectively of the time elapsed after crime, mediated contact between parties may be as likely after minor and serious offenses. (PsycINFO Database Record

Risk assessment tools in criminal justice and forensic psychiatry: The need for better data.

Violence risk assessment tools are increasingly used within criminal justice and forensic psychiatry, however there is little relevant, reliable and unbiased data regarding their predictive accuracy. We argue that such data are needed to (i) prevent excessive reliance on risk assessment scores, (ii) allow matching of different risk assessment tools to different contexts of application, (iii) protect against problematic forms of discrimination and stigmatisation, and (iv) ensure that contentious demographic variables are not prematurely removed from risk assessment tools.

Spatial analysis of crime incidence and adolescent physical activity.

OBJECTIVES: Adolescents do not achieve recommended levels of physical activity. Crime is believed to be a barrier to physical activity among youth, but findings are inconsistent. This study compares the spatial distribution of crime incidences and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) among adolescents in Massachusetts between 2011 and 2012, and examines the correlation between crime and MVPA. METHODS: Eighty adolescents provided objective physical activity (accelerometer) and location (Global Positioning Systems) data. Crime report data were obtained from the city police department. Data were mapped using geographic information systems, and crime and MVPA densities were calculated using kernel density estimations. Spearman's correlation tested for associations between crime and MVPA. RESULTS: Overall, 1694 reported crimes and 16,702min of MVPA were included in analyses. A strong positive correlation was present between crime and adolescent MVPA (ρ=0.72, p<0.0001). Crime remained positively associated with MVPA in locations falling within the lowest quartile (ρ=0.43, p<0.0001) and highest quartile (ρ=0.32, p<0.0001) of crime density. CONCLUSIONS: This study found a strong positive association between crime and adolescent MVPA, despite research suggesting the opposite relationship. This counterintuitive finding may be explained by the logic of a common destination: neighborhood spaces which are desirable destinations and promote physical activity may likewise attract crime.

Green Space, Violence, and Crime: A Systematic Review.

PURPOSE: To determine the state of evidence on relationships among urban green space, violence, and crime in the United States. METHODS AND RESULTS: Major bibliographic databases were searched for studies meeting inclusion criteria. Additional studies were culled from study references and authors' personal collections. Comparison among studies was limited by variations in study design and measurement and results were mixed. However, more evidence supports the positive impact of green space on violence and crime, indicating great potential for green space to shape health-promoting environments. CONCLUSION: Numerous factors influence the relationships among green space, crime, and violence. Additional research and standardization among research studies are needed to better understand these relationships.

What Occupational Health Needs Arise in Workplaces Following Disasters? A Joint Analysis of Eight Cases of Disaster in Japan.

OBJECTIVE: To identify occupational health needs arising after disasters. METHODS: Using semistructured interviews with expert informants, we jointly analyzed the needs arising in eight disaster cases that threatened the lives or health of workers in Japan. RESULTS: Various types of health issues occurred in a wide range of employees. In total, we identified 100 needs in six phases after disasters and classified them across nine categories of worker characteristics. The proportion of health needs on the list that were applicable in each case varied from 13% to 49%. More needs arose when the companies were responsible for the disaster and when employee lives were lost. We also assessed the list as fairly comprehensive. CONCLUSIONS: The list developed in this study is expected to be effective for anticipating occupational health needs after disasters.

[How do we treat the broad spectrum of patients with serious mental illness who have committed crimes? The Law 81/2014: limits and problems]. / Come cureremo l'ampio spettro di pazienti con gravi malattie mentali autori di reato? La Legge n. 81/2014: limiti e problematiche.

In Italy an ongoing process of deinstitutionalization unprecedented in the world is been enacted. The Judicial Psychiatric Hospitals, that were never reformed in the past 80 years, are now on the edge of their closure. This process is being implemented through a layering of rules that had no purpose other than the rapid closure of these structures. The Mental Health Departments have now the responsibility of a multiplicity of new and highly specialized tasks, and an extension of their power to control. There is no previous organization for these tasks in the Mental Health System. Some of the recently enacted laws, such as the Law 81 of 2014, are intented to solve some problems, althought issues of deinstitutionalization are getting worse. In our opinion several management aspects of this population of severe psychiatric patients are unfit with the present organization of the Mental Health Services. There is need for legislative action coordinated and based on a long-term perspective.

Influence of offence type and prior imprisonment on risk of death following release from prison: a whole-population linked data study.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of offence type, prior imprisonment and various socio-demographic characteristics on mortality at 28 and 365 days following prison release. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: Using whole-population linked, routinely collected administrative state-based imprisonment and mortality data, the authors conducted a retrospective study of 12,677 offenders released from Western Australian prisons in the period 1994-2003. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to examine the association between mortality at 28 and 365 days post-release and offence type, prior imprisonment, and a range of socio-demographic characteristics (age, gender, social disadvantage and Indigenous status). FINDINGS: Overall, 135 (1.1 per cent) died during the 365 days follow-up period, of these, 17.8 per cent (n=24) died within the first 28 days (four weeks) of their index release. Ex-prisoners who had committed drug-related offences had significantly higher risk of 28-day post-release mortality (HR=28.4; 95 per cent CI: 1.3-615.3, p=0.033), than those who had committed violent (non-sexual) offences. A significant association was also found between the number of previous incarcerations and post-release mortality at 28 days post-release, with three prior prison terms carrying the highest mortality risk (HR=73.8; 95 per cent CI: 1.8-3,092.5, p=0.024). No association between mortality and either offence type or prior imprisonment was seen at 365 days post-release. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: Post-release mortality at 28 days was significantly associated with offence type (with drug-related offences carrying the greatest risk) and with prior imprisonment, but associations did not persist to 365 days after release. Targeting of short-term transitional programmes to reduce preventable deaths after return to the community could be tailored to these high-risk ex-prisoners.

A Swedish national twin study of criminal behavior and its violent, white-collar and property subtypes.

BACKGROUND: We sought to clarify the etiological contribution of genetic and environmental factors to total criminal behavior (CB) measured as criminal convictions in men and women, and to violent (VCB), white-collar (WCCB) and property criminal behavior (PCB) in men only. METHOD: In 21 603 twin pairs from the Swedish Twin Registry, we obtained information on all criminal convictions from 1973 to 2011 from the Swedish Crime Register. Twin modeling was performed using the OpenMx package. RESULTS: For all criminal convictions, heritability was estimated at around 45% in both sexes, with the shared environment accounting for 18% of the variance in liability in females and 27% in males. The correlation of these risk factors across sexes was estimated at +0.63. In men, the magnitudes of genetic and environmental influence were similar in the three criminal conviction subtypes. However, for violent and white-collar convictions, nearly half and one-third of the genetic effects were respectively unique to that criminal subtype. About half of the familial environmental effects were unique to property convictions. CONCLUSIONS: The familial aggregation of officially recorded CB is substantial and results from both genetic and familial environmental factors. These factors are moderately correlated across the sexes suggesting that some genetic and environmental influences on criminal convictions are unique to men and to women. Violent criminal behavior and property crime are substantially influenced respectively by genetic and shared environmental risk factors unique to that criminal subtype.