Schizophrenia: Causes, Crime, and Implications for Criminology and Criminal Justice

This paper is aimed at criminologists and criminal justicians seeking to understand their role in educating law enforcement and correctional personnel who must deal with the mentally ill. It is motivated by William Johnson\u27s (2011) recent call for rethinking the interface between mental illness, criminal justice, and academia, and his call for advocacy. We concur with his concerns, and insist that this rethinking must necessarily include grounding in the etiology of mental illness (specifically, with schizophrenia) as it is currently understood by researchers in the area. Advocacy must go hand in hand with a thorough knowledge of the condition of the people for whom we are advocating. We first examine major etiological models of schizophrenia, emphasizing the neurodevelopmental model that incorporates genetics, neurological functioning, and immunological factors guided by the assumption that the typical criminologist/criminal justician has minimal acquaintance with such material. We then address the link between schizophrenia and criminal behavior, and conclude with a discussion of the implications for criminology and criminal justice

The Stability of Self-Control Among South Korean Adolescents

Gottfredson and Hirschi’s General Theory of Crime has been widely tested. Yet, one of their key hypotheses—the stability of self-control hypothesis—has received little attention from researchers, and no known study has examined the applicability of the stability hypothesis in a non-western context. Given Gottfredson and Hirschi’s claim that their low self-control theory transcends cultural and national boundaries, we tested the hypothesis with a nationally representative sample of South Korean adolescents using five year panel data. Consistent with studies conducted in the U.S., our results offer partial support for Gottfredson and Hirschi’s stability hypothesis. We also provide comparative interpretations of our findings in the South Korean context

Fear of Crime Among Chinese Immigrants

Western scholars implicitly assume that the correlates of fear of crime discovered in the extant literature are also applicable to populations of different culture and ethnic backgrounds. The current study investigates whether such an assumption is valid, drawing on survey data of Chinese immigrants in Houston. Among other findings, this study reveals that the effect of age on fear of crime is negative among Chinese immigrants, contrary to the previous research findings on the general population. We discuss the social and cultural process that produces this interesting pattern. The study also finds that consistent with previous research that acculturation is a salient variable in explaining immigrants\u27 fear of crime

ADHD and Criminality: A Primer on the Genetic, Neurobiological, Evolutionary, and Treatment Literature for Criminologists

This paper is a primer on ADHD and its major comorbidities for criminologists unfamiliar with the genetic, neurobiological, and evolutionary literature on the subject. With Unnerver, Cullen & Pratt (2003) we are surprised that criminologists do not pay sufficient attention to a disorder that is found at rates in prisons around the world greatly exceeding in prevalence in the general population. Unnerver, Cullen & Pratt (2003) believe that it is because ADHD research has been carried out primarily by biomedical researchers and that criminologists tend to shy away from anything smacking of biology. We believe that the special expertise of criminologists in uncovering environmental correlates of antisocial behavior can benefit biomedical research and that biomedical research can assist criminologists in uncovering the individual-level correlates of antisocial behavior

Disentangling the Relationship Between Child Maltreatment and Violent Delinquency: Using a Nationally Representative Sample

This study uses the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescents (Add Health) data, a nationally representative sample of adolescents, to disentangle the relationship between child maltreatment and violent delinquency. Also examined are potential moderating effects of gender, socioeconomic status (SES), and religiosity on the association between child maltreatment and violent delinquency. Contrary to prior research findings, the current analyses reveal that physical abuse is not associated with future violent delinquency, whereas sexual abuse and neglect predict violent delinquency significantly. The current study also did not reveal any moderating effects of gender, SES, and religiosity on the association between maltreatment and violent delinquency. Interpretations of these findings are presented, drawing on the properties of the national probability sample compared to the findings of most prior studies that used localized samples

Do moral beliefs condition the impact of low self-control on digital piracy?

Morality and low self-control can both play critical roles in rule-breaking behaviors. Yet, our understanding of the interplay between morality and low self-control offers only a limited explanation of digital piracy. Using data from a sample of 1,091 South Korean students, we confirm that both morality and low self-control are important predictors of digital piracy. In addition, the current study reveals that morality conditions the relationship between low self-control and digital piracy. The results show that morality enhances the effects of low self-control on digital piracy. Overall, they thus confirm the importance of morality and low self-control as factors in digital piracy; however, they justify continued efforts to understand the interaction between morality and low self-control with respect to this type of crime

An Examination of Contextual and Organizational Factors Influencing Police Use of Force: A Multilevel Model

The current study attempts to bridge this gap in research between contextual factors and police use of force. It also deepens our understandings of the association between organizational factors and use of force by incorporating police training into the analytical model. Finally, this study expands prior research by including multiple police agencies in the sample, thus producing research findings that can be more easily generalized

When do police stressors particularly predict organizational commitment? the moderating role of social resources

The current study uses data from 570 male police officers working in 16 substations in South Korea to examine the impact of job stressors (e.g., victimization, authoritative organizational culture, and perceptions of unfair work assignments) on organizational commitment. Further, we examine the conditioning effect of social resources on organizational commitment. The results show that organizational characteristics (e.g., authoritative organizational culture, unfair work assignments, and conflict with coworkers) influence officers’ organizational commitment more so than victimization experiences. The results also show that social resources spill over into the workplace and condition the effects of organizational culture on predicting organizational commitment. Potential policy implications are discussed

Genetic and Environmental Influences in Delinquent Peer Affiliation: From the Peer Network Approach

Mainstream criminologists have long maintained that delinquent peer group formation is largely a function of family-environmental variables, and have ignored self-selection into peer groups because of genetic proclivities. A small number of recent studies, however, suggest that genes are implicated in delinquent peer affiliation. Given the potentially far-reaching implication of such research findings, the authors replicate Beaver, Wright, & DeLisi\u27s (2008) study, among others, using a direct measure of peer delinquency. That is, the authors analyze the Add Health genetic data employing a measure of peer delinquency which is based on the delinquency counts reported by peers themselves rather than respondents‘ self-reports. Even employing this alternative measure, their results clearly support the original study, providing further evidence of genetic underpinnings of delinquent peer group formation

KCHO-1, a Novel Antineuroinflammatory Agent, Inhibits Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Neuroinflammatory Responses through Nrf2-Mediated Heme Oxygenase-1 Expression in Mouse BV2 Microglia Cells

The brain is vulnerable to oxidative stress and inflammation that can occur as a result of aging or neurodegenerative diseases. Our work has sought to identify natural products that regulate heme oxygenase (HO)-1 and to determine their mechanism of action in neurodegenerative diseases. KCHO-1 is a novel herbal therapeutic containing 30% ethanol (EtOH) extracts from nine plants. In this study, we investigated the antineuroinflammatory effects of KCHO-1 in lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) treated mouse BV2 microglia. KCHO-1 inhibited the protein expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), iNOS-derived nitric oxide (NO), cyclooxygenase- (COX-) 2, and COX-2-derived prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in LPS-stimulated BV2 microglia. It also reduced tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and IL-6 production. This effect was correlated with the suppression of inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa B-α (IκB-α) phosphorylation and degradation and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) translocation and DNA binding. Additionally, KCHO-1 upregulated HO-1 expression by promoting nuclear translocation of nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) in mouse BV2 microglia. Tin protoporphyrin (SnPP), an HO activity inhibitor, was used to verify the inhibitory effects of KCHO-1 on proinflammatory mediators and proteins associated with HO-1 expression. Our data suggest that KCHO-1 has therapeutic potential in neurodegenerative diseases caused by neuroinflammation