Suicide attempts among incarcerated homicide offenders

The aim was to investigate the role of age, drug abuse, period of confinement, loneliness, difficulty in controlling emotions, having no friends in prison, victimization in prison, guilt over crimes, insomnia, nightmares, anxiety, depression, and mood change in predicating suicide attempts in a sample of homicidal young prisoners. Poisson regression model indicated that five variables contributed significantly to the prediction of suicide attempts. Specifically, participants reporting drug abuse, difficulty in controlling emotions, victimization in prison, nightmares, and depression were significantly more likely to report suicide attempts while incarcerated

An exploration of the current knowledge on young people who kill: a systematic review

This exploratory systematic review assessed the quality of primary studies on young people who kill and synthesised the findings regarding the characteristics of these offenders. An electronic search yielded 12,717 hits of papers published between 1989 and 2012. Of these, 8,395 duplicates, 3,787 irrelevant hits, and 527 publications not meeting the inclusion criteria of the review were excluded (15 publications were added after searching the grey literature), leaving 23 good quality studies. From these, a further seven were removed due to their small sample size (i.e., n < 30), leaving a total of 16 studies reviewed in detail. A search update was carried out on 2 February 2014 and no further studies meeting the inclusion criteria were found. The results indicate that juvenile homicide offenders are a heterogeneous group and the risk factors for juvenile homicide are cumulative and evolve through life. The findings are mixed, but ten risk factors are identified which appear to be consistent for offenders across the studies reviewed. The limitations of the current review are highlighted and recommendations for future research are outlined, with particular consideration given to improving the quality of the literature in this field

The Homicidal Narcissist

Personality type and murder have been linked via several studies on Sadistic personality disorder, Antisocial personality disorder, and psychopathy. The present study focused on the relationship between Narcissistic personality disorder and homicidal propensity. The relationship was examined using a sample of 490 inmates of the Colorado Department of Corrections. The subjects specific to this study were 215 inmates convicted of homicidal crimes including manslaughter, first degree murder, second degree murder, and second degree murder-crime of passion. A control group of approximately 275 inmates was included. The control group consisted of a random sample of crimes with the exception of homicide. Elevations on the Narcissistic, Sadistic, and Antisocial indices of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III were expected from the homicidal subjects . Results showed small but significant differences were found between minorities and whites on years of education and IQ. Significant differences were between the crime-groups on years of education and age. In terms of validity, both the Desirability (raw score p = .00) and Debasement (raw score p = .02) modifying indices distinguished significantly among the Murder and Nonviolent groups. In relation to personality and crime committed, the Nonviolent (mean BR = 68) offenders scored significantly higher on the Narcissism scale than the Other Violent (mean BR = 66, raw score p = .04) and Homicidal offenders (mean BR = 66, raw score p = .02). No significant difference was found between the crime-groups on the Sadistic or Antisocial scales. Significant differences were found among the crime-groups with the Schizoid and Dependent scales. A discriminant function analysis was also conducted to determine which variables predicted membership in the Nonviolent, Other Violent, and murder groups. No predictors were found

Personality Assessment Inventory Predictors of Parole for Adults who Committed Murder as Juveniles

Previously juveniles as young as 14 guilty of murder were eligible to be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. However, the decision of Miller v. Alabama (2012) declared mandatory life without the possibility of parole (LWOP) unconstitutional. Juveniles sentenced to LWOP were now able to be either resentenced or eligible for possible parole. The current study examined which scales on the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) predict parole outcomes for adult men seeking parole who committed murder when they were juveniles and sentenced to LWOP. The PAI is a 344-item self-report assessment comprised of validity, clinical, interpersonal and treatment scales. Parole candidates are either granted parole or are given a review date between one and five years. It was predicted that individuals denied parole or given longer review dates will score higher on the Antisocial, Aggression, and Violence Potential Index (VPI) scales of the PAI, have a higher number of disciplinary reports, and have lower participation in rehabilitation programs than individuals granted parole or granted lower review dates. Contrary to our predictions, the Aggression, Antisocial Scales, and Violence Potential Index on the PAI did not contribute to the prediction of parole decisions. However, there are many possible future directions pointed to by this research. Limitations of this study are discussed

Psychopathy and instrumental aggression: Evolutionary, neurobiological, and legal perspectives

In the study of aggression, psychopathy represents a disorder that is of particular interest because it often involves aggression which is premeditated, emotionless, and instrumental in nature; this is especially true for more serious types of offenses. Such instrumental aggression is aimed at achieving a goal (e.g., to obtain resources such as money, or to gain status). Unlike the primarily reactive aggression observed in other disorders, psychopaths appear to engage in aggressive acts for the purpose of benefiting themselves. This is especially interesting in light of arguments that psychopathy may represent an alternative life-history strategy that is evolutionarily adaptive; behaviors such as aggression, risk-taking, manipulation, and promiscuous sexual behavior observed in psychopathy may be means by which psychopaths gain advantage over others. Recent neurobiological research supports the idea that abnormalities in brain regions key to emotion and morality may allow psychopaths to pursue such a strategy—psychopaths may not experience the social emotions such as empathy, guilt, and remorse that typically discourage instrumentally aggressive acts, and may even experience pleasure when committing these acts. Findings from brain imaging studies of psychopaths may have important implications for the law

Homicidal ideation and psychiatric comorbidities in the inpatient adolescents aged 12–17

Objectives: Adolescents with a homicidal tendency is a growing concern in the United States. Studies in the past have showcased the relationship between homicidal ideation (HI) and psychiatric illnesses, but very limited information is available on the adolescent and inpatient population. We aim to evaluate the prevalence of demographic characteristics and psychiatric disorders in adolescents with and without HI. Materials and methods: Adolescent (age 12–17) population admitted to the hospital with the diagnosis of homicidal ideation was identified from the 2016–2018 National Inpatient Sample Dataset (NISD). Patients without HI were defined as the control group. The prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities between the groups was compared by applying the Rao-Scott adjusted chi-square test. We used multivariable logistic regression to generate odds ratio (OR) of homicidal ideation as an outcome; we adjusted age, sex, race, socioeconomic status, substance use disorders, alcohol use disorders, and psychiatric comorbidities. Results: A total of 18,935 patients (mean age: 14.5) with HI diagnosis were identified in this study. Majority of the patients were male subjects in the HI group compared to the control group (58.7 vs. 41.2%, p \u3c 0.001). Racially, HI was more prevalent in white race (56.0 vs. 52.6%, p \u3c 0.001) and black race (22.3 vs. 17.8%, p \u3c 0.001), compared to Hispanic race (14.9 vs. 21.3%, p \u3c 0.001). Major depression (Odds ratio [OR]: 2.66, p \u3c 0.001), bipolar disorder (OR: 3.52, p \u3c 0.001), anxiety disorder (OR: 1.85, p \u3c 0.001), ADHD, and other conduct disorders (OR: 4.01, p \u3c 0.001), schizophrenia (OR: 4.35, p \u3c 0.001) are strong predictors of HI. Suicidality was prevalent in 66.9% of patients with HI. Conclusion: We found a higher prevalence of psychiatric illnesses such as depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder in adolescents with homicidal ideation in the inpatient setting. White and black races were more prevalent in patients with homicidal ideation. Further large-scale longitudinal research studies are warranted to establish the correlation between psychiatric disorders and homicidal ideation among adolescents

Is female psychopathy linked with child abuse? An empirical investigation using a person-centered approach

Childhood abuse is associated with increased psychopathic features among girls, but most prior research is based on data from correctional samples of female delinquents and less is known about how specific forms of childhood abuse affect specific features of psychopathy. Using a school-based community sample of 696 girls aged 9–17 years from Barbados and Grenada, the current study examined latent profiles of psychopathic personality traits and their associations with physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. Latent profile analysis (LPA) revealed four distinct psychopathy groups among girls, including a ‘low psychopathy’ group (41.9% of girls), ‘high psychopathy’ group (4.8%), ‘high interpersonal manipulation and egocentricity’ group (37.4%), and a ‘moderate psychopathy’ group (16%). There was considerable evidence of physical abuse, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse among participants. Sexual abuse was associated with a 116% increased likelihood of membership in the high psychopathy group and a 57% increased likelihood of membership in the high interpersonal manipulation and egocentricity group. These results indicate that sexual abuse is a powerful distal factor in the development of psychopathic personality functioning, especially more severe variants

Expressive and Instrumental Offending: Reconciling the Paradox of Specialisation and Versatility

Although previous research into specialisation has been dominated by the debate over the existence of specialisation versus versatility, it is suggested that research needs to move beyond the restrictions of this dispute. The current study explores the criminal careers of 200 offenders based on their criminal records, obtained from a police database in the North West of England, aiming to understand the patterns and nature of specialisation by determining the presence of differentiation within their general offending behaviours and examining whether the framework of Expressive and Instrumental offending styles can account for any specialised tendencies that emerge. Fifty-eight offences were subjected to Smallest Space Analysis. Results revealed that a model of criminal differentiation could be identified and that any specialisation is represented in terms of Expressive and Instrumental offending styles

Empirical Support for the HCR‐20: A Critical Analysis of the Violence Literature

Summary: The purpose of this project was to conduct a comprehensive search of the empirical literature published in peer-reviewed journals between 1997 and 2005 to identify studies that presented support for variables included on the HCR-20. This report includes a separate section for each of the measure’s 20 items, with one exception. Empirical support for Items C5 (Unresponsive to Treatment) and R4 (Noncompliance with Remediation Attempts) are presented together under a single heading because studies that were relevant to one item also tended to apply to the other item. Moreover, these studies could not be differentiated on the basis of having a present (clinical) or future (risk management) focus. Under each section, the most significant and methodologically sound studies identified in the search are summarized; abstracts of additional studies of relevance to the item are reproduced (with separate headings for studies that presented data on violent or non-vonviolent outcomes). Each section also lists narrative/qualitative literature reviews relevant to the item, as well as studies that offer “contradictory” empirical evidence. A table is presented at the beginning of the report that indicates whether, for each reference, a summary is provided, the abstract only is reprinted, or if it is a narrative review. Bookmark links are provided for each section of this report