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Drugged and Dangerous: Prevalence and Variants of Substance Use Comorbidity Among Seriously Violent Offenders in the United States
Abstract
The evidence is clear that substance use and drug problems often accompany other antisocial behavior generally and violent behavior specifically; however, the specificity of the drug/violence nexus is less clear. Using data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) between 2008 and 2012, the current study examined the prevalence and possible heterogeneity of substance use among serious violent offenders in the United States. Three latent classes were discovered: Class 1 (61.18% of sample) who displayed limited substance use morbidity, Class 2 (28.17% of sample) who displayed comorbid alcohol and marijuana use disorders, and Class 3 (10.65% of sample) who displayed polydrug abuse/dependence and severe criminal careers. Additional results indicated that the most serious violent offenders have substance use problems that appear amenable to treatment; however, the most antisocial violent offenders also have the most severe drug problems. Implications of study findings for the epidemiology of antisocial behavior and correctional interventions are discussed.
... Although other drug use, particularly amphetamine, methamphetamine, and cocaine use, has also been linked to violence, it has been suggested that the relationship is not as strong as the relationship between alcohol and violence (Boles & Miotto, 2003;Stewart, gossop, Marsden, & Rolfe, 2000). Drug use, on the contrary, has been linked to acquisitive crimes, such as theft or break and enter (Cheverie et al., 2014;Hodgins & Lightfoot, 1988;Sevigny & Coontz, 2008;Ternes & Johnson, 2011), and substance-related crimes, such as possession or trafficking (DeLisi, Vaughn, Salas-Wright, & Jennings, 2015;Kopak et al., 2014;Sevigny & Coontz, 2008). ...
... It is likely that this population is heterogeneous with regard to their substance use histories and dynamic needs. Indeed, research has shown great heterogeneity in this population, in terms of the seriousness of their alcohol and drug problem, as well as criminal history, social and emotional stability, personality, and cognitive abilities (DeLisi et al., 2015;Hodgins & Lightfoot, 1988;Hopley & Brunelle, 2012, 2016Lightfoot & Hodgins, 1993;Sevigny & Coontz, 2008). ...
... Thirty years ago, Hodgins and Lightfoot (1988) used substance use variables, healthrelated variables, and indices related to cognitive ability, employment stability, and social stability to create typologies of substance-using inmates. Although more recent research has explored the presence of subgroups of substance-using incarcerated offenders on the basis of substance use variables along with arrest charges (Sevigny & Coontz, 2008), personality and mental health symptoms (Hopley & Brunelle, 2012), and sociodemographic factors and criminal history (DeLisi et al., 2015), no study has recently investigated this population on the basis of their criminogenic needs and the severity of their drug or alcohol consumption. The objective of the present study was to update and expand upon Hodgins and Lightfoot's (1988) findings by using criminogenic need variables, including those related to the severity of substance use, to create subgroups of substance-using incarcerated offenders, and then investigate whether those subgroups could be differentiated in terms of sociodemographic factors, criminal history, institutional behavior, and rates of recidivism. ...
This study explored the presence of subgroups of incarcerated offenders using cluster analysis. Subgroups were created based on severity of criminogenic needs, including substance use, from a retrospective cohort of 5,275 Canadian male incarcerated offenders. Five groups emerged: (a) Primarily Drug Users With Stable Employment/Education, (b) Primarily Drug Users with High Needs, (c) Polysubstance Users With Positive Social Supports, (d) Polysubstance Users With Severe Need for Intervention, and (e) Drug Offenders With Good Reintegration Potential. Sociodemographic factors, criminal history, institutional behavior, and rates of recidivism were explored across subgroups. Drug Offenders With Good Reintegration Potential had the lowest rates of institutional charges and recidivism, while offenders in the Primarily Drug With High Needs and Polysubstance With Severe Need for Intervention groups had the highest rates. These findings highlight that classification of offenders is complex and nuanced. Knowing the pattern and severity of substance use and criminogenic needs aids offender management. © 2018 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology.
... The development of intervention and treatment strategies for adolescents with a versatile substance use pattern would seem particularly important given that this group is at a disproportionate risk of experiencing a variety of negative outcomes associated with general substance use, including family problems, health problems, and involvement in serious and violent offending (Baron, 2006;DeLisi, Vaughn, Salas-Wright, & Jennings, 2015;Newcomb & Bentler, 1988). In terms of the types of factors that intervention strategies should target, adolescent substance users are more likely than nonsubstance users to be involved in a variety of other risky behaviors such as early sexual behavior, offending, and running away from home/living on the street (e.g., Baron, 2006;Chassin, Flora, & King, 2004;Elliott & Morse, 1989;Raskin-White, Loeber, & Farrington, 2008;Welte, Zhang, & Wieczorek, 2001). ...
... However, less is known about withingroup differences among adolescent substance users and whether involvement in risky behaviors and an associated lifestyle help explain within-group heterogeneity in substance use profiles. A better understanding of the correlates of a more frequent or more versatile substance use pattern is important for helping prevent negative outcomes (e.g., serious and violent offending) for the types of substance users most likely to experience such outcomes (DeLisi et al., 2015). ...
... Within this sample, drug use was common (i.e., approximately 99%) and participants used a wide range of different substances (i.e., approximately 75% used at least three different substances). In effect, these were the types of adolescent substance users that are concerning to treatment providers and policy makers because they are more likely to be associated with several other treatment needs (e.g., homelessness, mental disorder, offending, parental conflict; see Baron, 2006;DeLisi et al., 2015;Newcomb & Bentler, 1988). ...
Base rates of illicit substances such as cocaine, crack cocaine, and heroin are typically low in community-based studies, which often inhibit more complex multivariate analysis. Additionally, single-item measures and aggregate scales mask within-group differences among those showing versatility in their substance use. Latent class analysis was used to model the substance use profiles of adjudicated female (n = 98) and male (n = 378) youth. Alcohol, marijuana, acid, mushrooms, ecstasy, cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, crystal methamphetamine, and nonmedical use of prescription pills were used to define latent profiles of substance use. Three latent classes were identified that were qualitatively different across males and females. Multinomial logistic regression analyses indicated that time spent outside of the home of the biological parents, early substance use, and parental substance abuse were informative of the use of substances such as cocaine, crack cocaine, and heroin. Implications for more individualized treatment strategies are discussed.
... Literature shows a high comorbidity of violent behavior and use of substances including alcohol [1][2][3]. A study by [4] found an association between alcohol dependence and violent offenses. ...
... Anger is reflected across physical components including stress reactivity with connected autonomic arousal, hypervigilance, and hostile attributions [18]. The emotional response of anger is often expressed in violent behavior toward others and the most serious violent offenders also represent the most severe drug issues [2]. ...
Objectives: To understand the complexity of the client’s problems with alcohol use disorder and the importance of treating the underlying reasons of trauma to assist the client toward full recovery. To identify the related factors including traumatic events and irrational beliefs that led to the client’s emotional response of anger. To understand that anger, when using unhealthy coping strategies, fosters violent behavior. To comprehend that alcohol is often used as a self-medication for dealing with emotional injury, irrational beliefs, and low self-esteem.
Method: This case report describes the interrelation of possible etiology and emotional and behavioral responses that led to a complex mental health issue in a male client. The client’s symptomology represented violent behavior toward others specified
as Intermittent Explosive Disorder 312.34 (F63.81) and severe Alcohol Use Disorder 303.90 (F10.20) in early remission (DSM-5, 2013). Alcohol use is often associated with violent behavior, but it is also important assessing and treating trauma symptoms in
understanding the complexity of alcohol use and domestic violence. The case report provides a framework of clinical treatment to assist the client for recovery and gaining sustained holistic wellness.
Results: The client showed good progression with re-processing traumatic events with Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy as well as applying Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT) when working with irrational
beliefs including identity, masculinity, and healthy behaviors.
Conclusion: After 6 months of follow up the client has shown positive treatment outcomes as evidenced by stability in his mental health and life.
... Additionally, personality characteristics, such as self-control, which develop early in life, have been found to be robust predictors of both criminal behavior and health outcomes throughout the life-course (Miller et al., 2011;Moffitt et al., 2011). Likewise, factors such as substance use can play a key role in criminal offending (DeLisi, Vaughn, Salas-Wright, & Jennings, 2015;White, 2016) and increase the risk for many health conditions (Huang et al., 2013;Measelle, Stice, & Hogansen, 2006;Oesterle et al., 2004). Thus, in addition to the fact that criminal offending and dimensions of health may influence one another over time, they both may also be impacted by common factors. ...
... Because approximately 15% of respondent's parents did not take the parent survey, we included an indicator to capture missing responses on the SES item to retain these observations. Finally, given heterogeneity in substance use among adolescent populations we include a series of measures to capture substance use in adolescence (see DeLisi et al., 2015;Salas-Wright, Gonzalez, Vaughn, Schwartz, & Jetelina, 2016;Shook, Vaughn, & Salas-Wright, 2013;Vaughn, Salas-Wright, Cordova, Nelson, & Jaegers, 2018). Cigarette use measures the number of cigarettes a respondent reported smoking per day at Wave I (capped at the 99th percentile). ...
Despite a growth of research on the intersection of health and crime, limited work investigates this relationship as it evolves over the life-course. Drawing on data from four waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (N = 9037), the current study uses dual group-based trajectory modeling to investigate the joint development of criminal offending, physical health, and mental well-being from adolescence into young adulthood (ages 11-32). Further, multinomial logistic regression is employed to determine common sociodemographic, personality, and behavioral factors associated with multiple trajectories. Study findings suggest that individuals who persistently offend at higher rates are more likely to experience worse overall health and more depressive symptoms, whereas the lowest rate offenders have substantially lower likelihoods of physical and mental health problems. Several theoretically relevant characteristics including being male, low self-control, adolescent academic performance, and illicit drug use in adolescence predict membership in tra-jectories characterized by higher rates of offending and lower quality health. Theoretical and policy implications of these findings are discussed in the context of extant literature.
... Substance use is common among criminal offenders (Belenko & Peugh, 2005;DeLisi et al., 2015). It is estimated that two-thirds of offenders incarcerated are often diagnosed with substance use disorder (Gunter et al., 2008;Peters et al., 1998). ...
The relationship between parole/probation officers and female
parolees can influence parolees’ successful reentry into the
community. Constant and positive contact with parole officers
might help parolees avoid problematic behavior. The current
study focuses on the reduction in substance use parolees among
female parolees as a product of the relationship quality with
parole officers. This cross-sectional study used a structural
equation model to examine whether relationship quality between
parole/probation officers with female parolees predicted attitudes
toward substance use avoidance. This study also examined
whether criminogenic needs and employment self-efficacy
explained the relationship between quality relationships and
attitudes toward substance use (N = 226). The results suggest that
relationship quality, criminogenic needs, and employment selfefficacy positively related to attitudes toward substance use
avoidance. Mediational results suggest that criminogenic needs
and employment self-efficacy explained the relationship between
relationship quality and female parolees’ attitudes toward
substance use. Therefore, establishing a positive relationship with
a parole officer might help reduce female parolees’ substance use
by increasing employment attitudes and reducing temptations to
engage in criminal behavior.
... Some scholars have raised alarms that such emphasis may contribute to heightened criminalization thereby exacerbating health inequities (Harawa et al., 2018;Moore et al., 2020b;Wang et al., 2019;Sugarman et al., 2020). However, there is less research assessing polysubstance use among CLS exposed adults more broadly (Banks et al., 2019;DeLisi et al., 2015;Medina et al., 2020;Winkelman et al., 2018); for example, identifying if and how different types of CLS exposure is associated with polysubstance use. ...
Introduction:
Criminal legal system (CLS) exposed adults experience higher rates of substance use, substance use disorder (SUD), and overdose. As most CLS exposed adults are not incarcerated, it is important to focus on CLS exposure across the carceral continuum.
Methods:
This research used pooled data from adult respondents (N = 206,314) in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2015-2019). Survey weighted descriptive statistics and Poisson regression were used to estimate prevalence of polysubstance use (i.e., concurrent use) across CLS exposure types (i.e., arrest, probation, parole), identifying relevant correlates.
Results:
The prevalence of polysubstance use was higher among CLS exposed adults, and nearly two-thirds of CLS exposed adults who used multiple types of substances indicated having an SUD. Comparing CLS exposure types, polysubstance use was less likely among adults on probation (IRR=0.89, 95%CI=0.84,0.94) or parole (IRR=0.82, 95%CI=0.76,0.87) compared to those arrested. Polysubstance use was also more likely among adults on probation (IRR=1.09, 95%CI =1.01,1.17) compared to those on parole. While some characteristics (i.e., age, ethnicity, SUD) were consistently associated with polysubstance use across types of CLS exposure, other characteristics (i.e., sexual identity, marital status, suicidal ideation) were not.
Conclusions:
There is heterogeneity in health risks as a function of CLS exposure type. Further research is needed to identify causal mechanisms and differences based on demographic characteristics. Given high levels of polysubstance use across CLS exposure types, a shift towards a more comprehensive approach in substance use epidemiology may facilitate building an evidence-base to maximize treatment related interventions to reduce polysubstance-involved overdoses.
... A person-centered approach examines how behaviours co-occur in groups of adolescents. In most research with a personcentered approach, subgroups are based on specific characteristics, such as committed offences, emotional and behavioural problems, or one single risk factor such as substance abuse (Bianchi et al., 2017;DeLisi et al., 2015;Hasking et al., 2011;Mulder et al., 2012;Vaughn et al., 2011). In addition, the studies that used multiple risk factors to find subgroups have examined specific populations, such as childhood arrestees or first offenders (Dembo et al., 2008;Geluk et al., 2013;Schwalbe et al., 2008). ...
The overall aim of this thesis was to explore the heterogeneity of adolescents with major psychiatric problems and severe behavioural problems admitted to a secure residential care setting in the Netherlands. More specifically, this thesis aimed to identify recognisable and homogeneous subgroups and their distinct risks and needs so that — ultimately — treatment can be tailored to these risks and needs. The four sub-goals of this thesis were: (a) to examine whether subgroups or risk profiles could be identified to obtain more insight into the patterns of co-occurring risk factors; (b) to examine whether
externalising trajectory classes could be identified, and whether these trajectory classes
were associated with premature termination of treatment; (c) to explore differences between young adults classified in the risk profiles found with regard to life after discharge from a secure residential care setting; and (d) to examine the predictive validity of the risk profiles for the offending behaviour after discharge from secure residential care.
... Previous work indicates that substance use disorder is associated with increased odds for drug-related, violent, and nuisance charges (but not necessarily property charges; Plattner et al., 2012;Pullman, 2010). Further, abuse of multiple substances was linked with a wider range of criminal offenses (e.g., theft, larceny, burglary, robbery, and arson) in a population of violent offenders when compared to violent offenders who engaged in limited substance use (DeLisi et al., 2015). ...
Background
Although the link between substance use and criminal behavior is well-established, associations between the use of specific substances and specific criminal charges remains unclear. That is, there are mixed findings in the literature, and the majority of extant literature focuses only on associations between alcohol and marijuana use and a limited range of charges.Objective
The current study examined 30-day frequency of use of various substances (i.e., traditional tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, e-cigarettes, and prescription drugs) prior to detainment, percentages of youth charged with various offenses, and whether certain offenses were associated with more frequent use of particular substances prior to detainment among detained youth. Additionally, differences in substance-charge associations among Black and White youth were evaluated.Method
Detained youth (N = 235; 71.9% male; M age = 15.59 years) from two facilities self-reported on their substance use and the facilities provided charge data.ResultsMarijuana was the most frequent substance used and violent-related offenses were the most common charge received. Interestingly, several charges (i.e., sex-, weapon-, and violent-related offenses) were associated with less frequent use of tobacco and/or marijuana use, but youth who were detained for non-criminal reasons (i.e., children in need of care) reported more frequent use of various substances than youth detained for criminal charges. Findings were more similar than different for Black and White youth, with very few differences evident.Conclusions
Children in need of care appear more at risk for certain substances than those detained for criminal offenses, with associations similar for detained Black and White youth.
... The most extreme criminal careers illustrate the effects of multiple forms of psychopathology especially the confluence of psychopathy, multiple externalizing behaviors, and homicidality. Building on the bedrock empirical finding that the most chronic offenders also engage in the most serious forms of crime (Blumstein & Cohen, 1987;DeLisi, 2005;DeLisi et al., 2015;DeLisi & Piquero, 2011;Wolfgang et al., 1972), a variety of research streams in forensic science, developmental psychopathology, and criminology have shown that the most pathological individual criminal careers are noteworthy for their behavioral extremity. Although this knowledge base is very valuable, it generally obscures the extraordinary criminal burden that an individual offender with this profile can impose on society and on the criminal justice system entities that respond to their offending. ...
Extreme criminal careers illustrate the effects of multiple forms of psychopathology especially the confluence of psychopathy, multiple externalizing behaviors, and homicidality. Here, we present a forensic case report of Mr. Z, an offender whose antisocial conduct and criminal justice system involvement spans the late 1940s to the present, whose criminal career dovetails with significant events in correctional history in the United States in the middle to late 20th century, and who was a multiple homicide offender while incarcerated in both state and federal prisons. The case report method provides rich qualitative data to supplement quantitative findings on psychopathy, career criminals, the severe 5%, and life-course-persistent offender prototypes. Given the extraordinary behaviors and psychopathology of the most severe offenders, forensic case reports are useful to refine criminological theory and research, and inform correctional practice.
... Finally, and possibly also connected to parental maltreatment, identity, and gang involvement, substance use is an important behavioral concern associated with both foster care placement (Yang et al., 2017) and offending (Baron, 2006;DeLisi et al., 2015). Youth with a history of foster care placement are significantly more likely to engage in alcohol and drug use compared to their nonfoster care peers (see Braciszewski & Stout, 2012 for a review). ...
Youth who are dually involved in both foster care and criminal justice systems represent a small minority of individuals with multi-problem risk profiles. Prior research has found that foster care youth are disproportionately more likely to be chronic offenders in both adolescence and emerging adulthood. However, the nature of this relationship remains theoretically underexplored and empirically underexamined, especially with respect to risk factors that may moderate the relationship. Using data from the Incarcerated Serious and Violent Young Offender Study, the criminal offending trajectories of 678 incarcerated youth were examined. A history of foster care predicted membership in a high rate chronic offending trajectory. This relationship was not moderated by parental maltreatment, negative self-identity, involvement in gang activity, or substance use versatility. Findings suggested a greater need for ongoing support for foster care youth during their transition to adulthood, regardless of their exposure to a range of other negative life circumstances.
... A potential explanation for the current finding is that FDV incidents involving poly drug use are likely to be more severe (and perceived as such by victims or witnesses) due to an increased level of intoxication and impairment, and in turn are more likely to be reported to police (Bonomi et al., 2006). This may occur via an indirect association, given that problematic substance use is highly comorbid with antisocial behaviors (including violence perpetration) as well as difficulties with self-control, emotional regulation, and interpersonal relationships (DeLisi et al., 2015). Alternatively, it may be that illicit drug use is associated with IPV and FV regardless of alcohol use. ...
Family and domestic violence (FDV) is a significant social issue that causes major harm across Australia. Alcohol has been identified as a contributing factor to FDV, and as such increased understanding of the role of alcohol in police-reported FDV incidents may provide the basis for developing specific clinical and forensic approaches. This study aims to identify the key correlates of alcohol-related FDV within police-reported FDV incidence. Data sourced from several states and territories across Australia were used to profile demographic and personal factors involved in police-reported FDV incidents, and to identify the types of incidents involving alcohol. For each state, three separate binary regressions were conducted for family violence, intimate partner violence, and FDV incidents in which alcohol was involved. Between 24% and 54% of FDV incidents reported to police were classified as alcohol-related. Although there appeared to be an association between relative socioeconomic disadvantage and an incident being alcohol-related, this association varied across states. Where victim and offender data were available, offenders were significantly more likely to be alcohol-affected than victims. Alcohol-related FDV incidents were also twice as likely to involve severe physical violence including injuries that were life threatening, as well as an increased likelihood of recidivism. This study demonstrates that alcohol plays a substantial role in police-reported FDV across Australia. It also demonstrates that other factors such as drug use, breach of orders, and repeat offending are associated with alcohol involvement across family violence and intimate partner violence.
... M. Hochheimer, et al. Addictive Behaviors 106 (2020) 106379 Both population (Agrawal et al., 2007;DeLisi et al., 2015;Vaughn et al., 2011) and clinic-based (John et al., 2018) studies have also isolated a class of people displaying high levels of SUD comorbidity who have high levels of psychiatric comorbidity as well as socioeconomic disadvantage. Individuals in this class may also display an increased persistence of SUD over time and a greater likelihood of seeking treatment. ...
Aims/Background
People diagnosed with multiple drug use disorders are high-risk subpopulations, but changes in diagnostic classification and drug use prevalence mean patterning of drug use disorders has changed in the past decade. We analyzed comorbidity patterns of lifetime drug use disorder in a general population sample.
Design
Using latent class analysis, we derived lifetime drug use disorder classes based on dichotomous indicators of sedative, cannabis, opioid, cocaine, stimulant, hallucinogen, inhalant/solvent, club drug, heroin, and other drug use disorders in the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions-III (n=36,309). Multinomial models assessed associations between sociodemographic and clinical correlates and latent class status.
Results
Four latent classes of lifetime substance use disorder were identified: A very low risk class, a class with high opioid, sedative and heroin comorbidity, a class based on cocaine and stimulant comorbidity, and class with high likelihood of multiple lifetime drug use disorders. All higher risk classes were associated with higher risk of lifetime personality disorder and mood disorder. Conduct disorder was also associated with higher risk, but level of risk varied by class. Opioid and sedative class was associated with higher odds of lifetime eating disorder diagnosis.
Conclusions
Comorbidity of drug use disorders is associated with a range of lifetime mental health disorder diagnoses. Unlike previous research, we did not identify a cannabis use class, possibly due to changes in diagnostic criteria and cannabis prevalence rates.
... Combining multiple years of NSDUH data together is a common practice (Cepeda-Benito et al., 2018;Chawla et al., 2018;DeLisi, Vaughn, Salas-Wright, & Jennings, 2015;Vaughn et al., 2019), and we do so for a number of reasons. First, the survey item used to assess reasons for dropping out was only asked to respondents under the age of 26 who were not in school and had not graduated from high school, only 1291 respondents in the 2014 survey. ...
Purpose
Young adults who do not complete high school are at increased risk for substance use and offending behavior. A limitation of this research is that dropouts are often treated as a homogeneous group, which ignores the various push (e.g., academic failure or disciplinary problems) and pull (e.g., family responsibility or economic need) factors for leaving school.
Methods
The current study relies on multiple years of data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2009–2014) and examines several dependent variables, including prevalence of prescription drug misuse, frequent prescription drug misuse, and prescription drug-related substance use disorder symptoms. We assess the importance of push and pull factors for dropping out, and compare dropouts to respondents who completed school.
Results
Multivariable logistic regression analyses produce two important findings. First, push factors increase the risk of various types of prescription drug misuse compared to pull factors. Additionally, respondents who attend college are at a decreased risk for various types of prescription opioid and sedative/tranquilizer misuse and disorder.
Discussion
The current research identifies important differences in prescription drug misuse and disorders among dropouts based on the reason they left school. Additionally, college attendance appears to be a strong protective factor.
... La correlación más alta en esta escala es con la tendencia al abuso de sustancias, lo que es consistente con lo reportado por los interventores de trato directo; cabe destacar que en general se observa una alta relación entre el consumo de drogas y presencia de actividad delictiva, aunque esta relación no sería directamente causal en ningún sentido, siendo la evidencia compleja de interpretar. En cualquier caso, se requieren intervenciones especializadas para el tratamiento del consumo en adolescentes infractores de ley (DeLisi, Vaughn, Salas-Wright & Jennings, 2015;Dietze et ál., 2013;Faílde, Dapía, Alonso & Pazos, 2015). ...
Antecedentes/objetivos:
Los inventarios de evaluación de riesgos criminogénicos basados en evidencia resultan de gran apoyo para determinar los objetivos prioritarios en las intervenciones y prevenir la reincidencia en adolescentes infractores de ley. Esta investigación permite avanzar en la validación de instrumentos de evaluación de riesgos en adolescentes infractores en contexto latinoamericano. Se estudian las evidencias de validez para la versión adaptada a Chile, del Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory YLS/CMI.
Método:
Mediante un muestreo incidental se obtiene una muestra de 129 adolescentes varones (14 a 19 años), cumpliendo sanción por la ley de responsabilidad penal.
Resultados y conclusiones:
El YLS/CMI adaptado muestra adecuados niveles de confiabilidad y validez en la muestra estudiada. Solo el factor de educación y empleo no alcanza los alpha aceptables (Alpha: .51). Las evidencias de validez convergente y discriminante del YLS/CMI son satisfactorias, siendo el factor de tiempo libre el que menos discrimina entre reincidentes y no reincidentes mediante análisis retrospectivo. El estudio avanza en la disertación de la adaptación y validación del YLS/CMI para evaluar los riesgos criminogénicos en adolescentes chilenos infractores de ley.
... In sum, despite the numerous studies indicating that substance use and crime coincide, the relationship is a complex issue, the understanding of which requires the accumulation of knowledge garnered from multiple sources by means of a variety of methods Steketee et al. 2013;Rocca et al. 2014;DeLisi et al. 2015;Gatti et al. 2015). The aim of the present cross-sectional study is to analyze the relationship between substance use (alcohol and cannabis) and juvenile delinquency, while controlling for the most common risk factors that lead to the second. ...
... The link between substance use/abuse and violent delinquency has been well documented by prior (Joyal, Dubreucq, Gendron, & Millaud, 2007;Lapham, 2004) and recent (Armiya'u et al., 2017;DeLisi, Vaughn, Salas-Wright, & Jennings, 2015;Levenson, 2016;Sutherland et al., 2015) studies, including Fazel, Långström, Hjern, Grann, & Lichtenstein (2009) meta-analysis. Extant literature has also linked substance use/abuse to adult crime (but not violent behavior) (see, e.g., Dos Santos et al., 2014;Lammers et al., 2013). ...
In Europe, it is relatively uncommon to find studies that investigate the criminal profiles of violent offenders, especially infrequent are those that pay special attention to offenders’ mental health/substance use disorders and histories of violence during childhood. The current research explores whether inmates who are incarcerated for violent offenses (n = 536) in Spain are different in terms of the aforementioned factors as compared to inmates incarcerated for non-violent offenses (n = 536). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that violent offenders, as compared to their non-violent counterparts, were more likely to be younger, younger at the time of their first arrest, single, use alcohol, receive treatment in prison for anxiety or schizophrenia, and report physical abuse during childhood.
... Vaughn and colleagues (in press) have noted that polysubstance misuse is asymmetrical in the population (that is, risk is highest among those who also take part in other risky/illegal behaviors and are involved in the criminal justice system), and the misuse of multiple drugs of abuse is likely conditioned by myriad genetic and psychosocial influences occurring over the life course. For instance, those who use illicit drugs are more likely to inhabit social networks in which drug use is accepted and involvement in other problem behaviors (e.g., drug selling, use of violence) is more common (DeLisi et al., 2015;. Simply, robust evidence makes clear that heroin use in particular, and problem alcohol and other illicit drug use in general, are more likely to occur in concert with other risky and illegal behaviors. ...
Background:
We are at a unique moment in United States (US) history as heroin overdose rates are higher than at any time in recent memory. Based on prior research and the developmental risks faced by young adults (ages 18-25), we examine the trends and correlates of perceived access to heroin among this group over a 15-year period.
Methods:
We analyzed national trend data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2002-2016) on young adults' (N = 247,679; ages 18-25) perceived access to heroin. We conducted logistic regression analyses with survey year specified as an independent variable and heroin access specified as the dependent variable while controlling for sociodemographic factors.
Results:
A majority of respondents reported that it would be difficult or impossible to obtain heroin, if desired. Young adult reports that it would be "probably impossible" to access heroin increased significantly from 31% in 2002 to 41% in 2016. The upward trend in the perceived lack of access was most robust among African Americans and Hispanics as well as those reporting no past-year substance use or drug/criminal justice system involvement.
Conclusions:
In the midst of a very serious opioid epidemic, the present study found that most young adults in the US consider that it would be "probably impossible" to obtain heroin. This trend was observed across young adulthood and across gender, racial/ethnic, and family income differences. However, we found that these trends are largely driven by those at relatively low risk of drug misuse and deviant behaviors generally.
... Fourth, there is evidence that substance use, abuse, and dependence is part and parcel of a broader criminal offending repertoire and also evidence of some offenders whose criminal activity is nearly or entirely exclusive to drug crimes. Indeed, latent class analyses have consistently shown evidence of drug-exclusive offenders (DeLisi, Vaughn, Salas-Wright, & Jennings, 2015;Shook, Vaughn, & Salas-Wright, 2013;Vaughn, Salas-Wright, DeLisi, & Piquero, 2014). In the event where drug use is part of a criminal behavioral style, Walters (2014Walters ( , 2015Walters ( , 2016 has advanced the "worst of both worlds" hypothesis whereby offenders who have significant drug problems and also engage in multiple other forms of criminal activity are likely to have the worst behavioral outcomes and have recurrent criminal justice system involvement. ...
Household drug abuse is one of the seminal forms of adverse childhood experiences, but it does not fully capture the severity of parents that actively provide or even administer drugs to their children. Drawing on a near population of federal supervised release offenders, the current study examined this “new” adverse childhood experience and its association with antisociality. Multiple analytical techniques (e.g., correlation, binary and multinomial logistic regression, and negative binomial regression) indicated that parent exposure to drugs was significantly associated with current drug status while on supervision, three forms of drug offending, and Cannabis, Cocaine, Methamphetamine, Opiate, and Alcohol Dependence even while controlling for age of arrest onset, sex, race, and current age. We concur with other scholars that more conceptualization and measurement-refinement of adverse childhood experiences is needed to fully understand how early-life trauma shapes the contours of the criminal career.
... 5%) of individuals account for the lion's share of antisocial behavior and problem behaviors [18,19]. For example, many chronic offenders have troublesome histories with a wide range of psychoactive drugs and, at various points in their criminal careers, can be diagnosed with substance use disorders [20]. Taken together, these principles strongly suggest that policy, prevention, and treatment strategies are inherently biosocial in nature and their execution must be grounded in tandem genetic and psychosocial influences over the life course. ...
Polysubstance misuse is a costly and complex behavioral phenotype that is concurrent with internalizing and externalizing disorders. Research on genetic and psychosocial influences suggests that a life course framework composed of a transactional etiology sheds light on the complex nature of polysubstance misuse. Further, given the extensive comorbidity with mental illness and behavioral dysregulation, viewing polysubstance misuse as asymmetrical in the population is helpful for guiding broad decision-making around prevention and policy.
... As such, it may be possible to reduce drug use by curbing the use of energy drinks. It is also possible that drug use and energy drink consumption may be part and parcel of a broader antisocial/deviant syndrome (DeLisi, 2017;DeLisi et al., 2015;Vazsonyi et al., 2017), in which case habitual energy drink consumption may simply be an early red flag for a future deviant lifestyle. Even so, programs that educate parents and teachers about the drug attitudes of youths who regularly Bold values signifies p < .05. ...
... However, when we take the second-order factors of substance abuse into account, we do see a difference in the variables that measure more severe drug use (Drug use and Marijuana problems) between the generic offenders and the impulsive-antisocial traits offenders and the psychopathic traits offenders. This is in line with previous studies that suggested that the most antisocial and violent offenders also have the most severe drug problems (Brennan, Stuppy-Sullivan, Brazil, & Baskin-Sommers, 2017; DeLisi, Vaughn, Salas-Wright, & Jennings, 2015;Sacks et al., 2009). ...
Purpose: Within forensic settings, the tools used to evaluate subtypes of antisocial offenders (e.g. interview-based measures such as the Psychopathy Checklist) are expensive and time consuming. The purpose of the present study was to identify and validate distinct antisocial profiles in male offenders using a questionnaire. In the future, this approach could help us identify antisocial profiles in a cost-effective way.
Method: First, we investigated the robustness and replicability of the profiles reported by previous profiling studies by performing latent profile analysis using the Self-Report Psychopathy Short-Form. Second, we studied how these profiles were linked to personality correlates that have been used to differentiate between groups of antisocial offenders. Third, we investigated how each profile relates to a broad range of behaviours seen in antisocial populations.
Results: Four antisocial profiles were identified: generic offenders, impulsive-antisocial traits offenders, non-antisocial psychopathic traits offenders, and psychopathic traits offenders. The validity of these profiles was supported by their links with external personality and behavioural correlates.
Conclusion: Consistent with previous research using interview-based measures, these findings provide support for the presence of four distinct antisocial profiles based on self-report psychopathy scores in male offenders. Furthermore, findings provide relatively extensive and multifaceted characterizations of each profile.
... There were moderately surprising findings. For example, substance abuse and dependence are often part and parcel of a sustained criminal career (DeLisi, Vaughn, Salas-Wright, & Jennings, 2015;Gunnison, 2015;Hser, Longshore, & Anglin, 2007;Vaughn et al., 2011;Vaughn et al., 2014), yet the PCRA Drug/Alcohol was not significantly associated with any of the retrospective measures of the criminal career or BOP confinement. However, PCRA Drug/Alcohol was positively associated with noncompliance on supervised release and having a warrant requested. ...
The criminal career paradigm is a major research area but has largely overlooked federal offenders and federal data. Drawing on a population of federal supervised release clients in the Midwestern United States, the current study examined the predictive validity of the federal Post-Conviction Risk Assessment (PCRA) and its subscales for their association with six parameters of the criminal career. Poisson, negative binomial, and logistic regression models showed that PCRA Risk was significantly associated with annual offending rate (lambda), chronicity, prison misconduct, noncompliance on supervised release, having a warrant requested on supervised release, and career criminal status. Various PCRA subscales also were significantly associated with criminal career outcomes especially for current community supervision outcomes. These effects withstood confounding effects for age, sex, race, age of arrest onset, federal criminal history rank, and total prison exposure. The study supported basic criminal career findings using federal data and showed that a standard risk assessment actuarial in the federal system has utility as an indicator of the criminal career.
... It is important to note there is also evidence of the predictive advantages of the YPI (Chauhan et al., 2014). -Wright, and Jennings, 2015;Piquero, 2000;Piquero, Theobald, and Farrington, 2014). ...
Recent interest among criminologists on the construct of temperament has been fueled by DeLisi and Vaughn's (2014) temperament-based theory of antisocial behavior. Their theory suggests that core self-regulation capacity and negative emotionality are the most salient temperament features for understanding the emergence and maintenance of antisocial and violent behavior, even among offending populations. The present study tests the relative effects of these temperamental features along with psychopathic traits and trauma in their association with violent and non-violent delinquency in a sample of 252 juvenile offenders. Results from a series of negative binomial regression models indicate that temperament was uniformly more strongly associated with violent and non-violent delinquency than psychopathic traits and childhood traumatic events. Exploratory classification models suggested that temperament and psychopathy possessed similar predictive capacity, but neither surpassed prior history of violence and delinquency as a predictor of future offending. Overall, findings are supportive of DeLisi and Vaughn's temperament-based theory and suggest temperament as conceptualized and measured in the present study may play an important role as a risk factor for violent and non-violent delinquency.
... In light of these figures-as well as research on the impact of marijuana use on brain development, school performance, lifetime achievement, and a number of health conditionsleading voices in addiction science have been careful to counter the popular notion that marijuana use is a "harmless pleasure" (Volkow, Baler, Compton, & Weiss, 2014). Beyond marijuana use, national data suggest that the use of other illicit drugs and illicit drug use disorders in general are surprisingly common and frequently cooccur with serious behavioral and psychiatric problems (DeLisi, Vaughn, Salas-Wright, & Jennings, 2015;Grant et al., 2016). Recent years have, of course, witnessed the manifold consequences of the nation's opioid epidemic, including steep increases opioid-related social and health care costs, incarceration, and overdose mortality (Dart et al., 2015;Florence, Zhou, Luo, & Xu, 2016;Rudd, Aleshire, Zibbell, & Matthew Gladden, 2016). ...
This article presents the Alcohol and Other Drugs Education Program (ADEP) as a model for faculty training in evidence-based alcohol and other drug (AOD) identification and treatment. We make the case that AOD use is a serious social and public health issue and highlight faculty training as a strategic approach for addressing the pressing demand for clinical professionals who can provide AOD-related services. In turn, we describe the core elements of ADEP, including the program’s foundational assumptions and logic, guiding principles and design, situating ADEP within the context of other efforts to improve the quality of AOD-related clinical care.
... A person-centred approach examines how behaviours co-occur in groups of adolescents. In most research with a person-centred approach, subgroups are based on specific characteristics, such as committed offences, emotional and behavioural problems, or one single risk factor such as substance abuse [13][14][15][16][17]. In addition, the studies that used multiple risk factors to find subgroups have examined specific populations, such as childhood arrestees or first offenders [18][19][20]. ...
Background
The development of delinquent behaviour is largely determined by the presence of (multiple) risk factors. It is essential to focus on the patterns of co-occurring risk factors in different subgroups in order to better understand disruptive behaviour.
Aims and hypothesis
The aim of this study was to examine whether subgroups could be identified to obtain more insight into the patterns of co-occurring risk factors in a population of adolescents in residential care. Based on the results of prior studies, at least one subgroup with many risk factors in multiple domains and one subgroup with primarily risk factors in a single domain were expected.
Methods
The structured assessment of violence risk in youth and the juvenile forensic profile were used to operationalize eleven risk factors in four domains: individual, family, peer and school. Data from 270 male adolescents admitted to a hospital for youth forensic psychiatry and orthopsychiatry in the Netherlands were available. Latent class analysis was used to identify subgroups and significant differences between the subgroups were examined in more detail.
Results
Based on the fit statistics and the clinical interpretability, the four-class model was chosen. The four classes had different patterns of co-occurring risk factors, and differed in the included external variables such as psychopathology and criminal behaviour.
Conclusions
Two groups were found with many risk factors in multiple domains and two groups with fewer (but still several) risk factors in single domains. This study shed light on the complexity of disruptive behaviour, providing a better insight into the patterns of co-occurring risk factors in a heterogeneous population of adolescents with major psychiatric problems admitted to residential care.
... Given the intertwined nature of these behaviors, it may be the case that multiple component interventions that are informed by prior research may be particularly useful and efficient (Ickovics, 2008). Such an approach is not only cost-effective but is also consistent with research and theorizing, highlighting the multidimensional nature of violence and other health-risk behaviors (DeLisi, Vaughn, Salas-Wright, & Jennings, 2015;Salas-Wright, Olate, & Vaughn, 2015;Vaughn, Salas-Wright, DeLisi, & Larson, 2015;Vaughn, Salas-Wright, DeLisi, & Piquero, 2014). ...
Handgun carrying is associated with a wide range of delinquent behaviors, but very little is known about sex differences in this behavior and current trends in handgun carrying in the United States. Using data from the 2002 to 2015 National Study of Drug Use and Health surveys, we found that the prevalence of handgun carrying among girls nearly doubled from 0.9% to 1.7% with most of this increase seen among non-Hispanic White and Hispanic girls. Although boys are more likely to carry handguns, approximately 20% of the total handgun carrying by adolescents in the United States occurs among girls. Both male and female adolescents who have carried a handgun in the past year evince a behavioral profile that is characterized by substance use, versatile delinquency, elevated risk propensity, and substantial school and family problems. However, adjusted odds ratios are consistently higher for females, suggesting that girls who engage in handgun carrying represent an important subgroup of potentially pernicious offenders that should be targeted for primary and tertiary prevention and juvenile justice system oversight.
... To determine any sex differences or sex-specific patterns in the association between parental offending and offspring aggression, all analyses were conducted separately for males and females. On account of the known link between substance use and offending [46], analyses were also completed with indicators of maternal (2.6%) and paternal (2.8%) substance use disorders instead of any parental mental illness. 6 To verify whether the results remained consistent when excluding children of non-offending parents, analyses were also conducted restricting the sample to include only those children with an offending mother 4 To account for the potential influence of parental absence due to incarceration, analyses were conducted excluding the 1996 children with a parent who had been incarcerated (296 mothers and 1818 fathers). ...
PurposeTo examine the impact of parental criminal offending, both paternal and maternal, on offspring aggression at age 5 years, while also considering key risk factors, including parental mental illness, child’s sex, and socioeconomic disadvantage. Methods
The sample comprised 69,116 children, with linked parental information, from the New South Wales Child Development Study, a population-based multi-agency, multi-generational record linkage study that combines information from a teacher-reported cross-sectional survey of early childhood development at age 5 years (the 2009 Australian Early Development Census; AEDC) with data obtained via administrative records from multiple sources (e.g., health, crime, education, and welfare). Hierarchical logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine the effects of maternal and paternal criminal court appearances (frequency and type of offending), and mental health service contacts, on offspring aggression measured in the AEDC. ResultsHaving a parent with a history of offending was significantly associated with high levels of offspring aggression in early childhood. The strength of association was greatest when parents were involved in frequent (≥6 offences: adjusted odds ratio [aOR] range = 1.55–1.73) and violent (aOR range = 1.49–1.63) offending. Both maternal and paternal offending remained significant predictors of offspring aggression after accounting for parental mental illness, and associations were similar in magnitude for maternal and paternal offending histories. Conclusions
Parental history of severe criminal offending increased the risk of high levels of aggression in offspring during early childhood, highlighting the need for intervention with families during this key developmental period.
... In a study examining the arrest histories of lethal gang and non-gang offenders, small evidence of specialisation was found but, in general, homicide offenders were found to be versatile in their offending leading up to the homicide (Adams & Pizarro, 2014). The most severe violent offenders were found to have substance abuse issues (DeLisi, Vaughn, Salas-Wright, & Jennings, 2015), in Finland, alcohol abuse in particular (Kivivuori & Lehti, 2006. ...
Lethal violence is often seen as the tip of the iceberg and homicide perpetrators are seen as manifesting the most extreme number of various risk factors. This article explores whether that is the case. Using a unique data set combining data from several administrative registers with a nationally representative sample of different types of police-reported violence committed during 2010–2011 (N = 26,303 offenders) in Finland, we compare the offenders of five different types of violence (minor assault, assault, aggravated assault, attempted homicide, and completed homicide). In addition, we examine the association between the severity of violence and prior criminal history and different types of strain. The results give partial support to the hypothesis: the more serious the violence, the more crime prone and socially disadvantaged the offender. Yet, lethal offenders do not stand out alone; the division, rather, appears to be between offenders of serious (aggravated assault, attempted homicide, completed homicide) and less serious (minor assault, assault) forms of violence.
... Future research should build on the current study by considering how drug markets and arrests co-vary across places. Although recent research has noted the relative infrequency of poly-drug use and dependence (Delisi, Vaughn, Salas-Wright, & Jennings, 2015;Kopak et al., 2014), this is not to say drug markets are neatly differentiated on either the distribution or demand side. In fact, our results indicate significant positive correlations between most of the drug-specific arrest measures. ...
Prior research assessing the structural covariates of drug arrests has
focused on composite measures of arrests. Prior studies have also
neglected to simultaneously consider the influence of characteristics of
communities, law enforcement agencies, police officers, and drug-specific
mortality rates on drug-specific arrests. As such, the extant literature
offers an incomplete understanding of the structural correlates of drug
arrests. The current study addresses these limitations by assessing the
structural covariates of drug-specific measures of arrests for cocaine,
crack, heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine. Results highlight
substantive distinctions in the structural covariates of drug-specific arrests
across places; particularly related to drug-specific mortality (i.e. overdose)
rates and racial diversity within the community and local police
departments, findings that have important implications for future research.
... The average offender with definite evidence of homicidal ideation was first arrested in early adolescence, was a chronic juvenile offender, amassed nearly three dozen arrest charges and nearly 20 convictions, was placed in confinement nearly five times, and repeatedly violated probation and parole sentences including revocation. The criminal careers paradigm has provided copious evidence that the most severe and pathological offenders evince the most extensive offending careers and engage in the most severe forms of crime (Barnes, 2014;DeLisi & Piquero, 2011;DeLisi et al., 2015;Doherty & Ensminger, 2014;Jennings & Reingle, 2012;Larson et al., 2015;Piquero, 2000;Piquero, Farrington, & Blumstein, 2003;Piquero, Jennings, & Barnes, 2012' Pizarro, Zgoba, & Jennings, 2011. However, to our knowledge, no prior criminal career study has incorporated homicidal ideation let alone shown that it is robustly associated with the most persistent and violent offending careers. ...
Homicidal ideation is a clinical construct that is almost entirely absent from the criminological literature. The current study examines the criminology of homicidal ideation using archival data from a population of federal supervised release felons from the Midwestern United States. ANOVA, Poisson regression, negative binomial regression, and epidemiological tables indicated that 12 % of offenders experienced evidence of homicidal ideation and these offenders perpetrated more murders, attempted murders, kidnappings, armed robberies, and aggravated assaults, had more severe and extensive psychopathology, and were more likely to be chronic offenders. Homicidal ideation is an important construct that should be studied more not only for its association with murder, but as an omnibus risk factor for severe criminality.
... Además, ciertas conductas consideradas ilegales (por ejemplo, conducir de manera temeraria) facilitan o instan al consumo de drogas, y recíprocamente, el consumo de drogas o sus efectos y consecuencias, pueden acabar instando a la ejecución de delitos (por ejemplo, el maltrato físico o psicológico). Aunque el consumo de drogas y alcohol, por si solos, serían insuficientes para explicar la conducta violenta en sí misma, existe evidencia empírica que demuestra la relación entre patrones de personalidad, tipos de delitos violentos y consumo de drogas o alcohol (Cunha y Gonçalves, 2013;DeLisi, Vaughn, Salas-Wright y Jennings, 2015). ...
There is empirical evidence showing the relationship between personality disorders, violence crime and substance abuse problem. This study aims to examine the prevalence of personality disorders in prison populations (drug abusers and abusers), using as a control group a population imprisoned without these types of crimes. The participants were 45 men within the prison in Albolote, Granada (15 drug abusers, 15 abusers and 15 control) and were selected following the Severity Addiction Scale (EUROPASI; Bobes et al., 1996) and the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2; Strauss et al., 1996). The Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory was used to assess personality disorders. We found that drug abusers had higher scores than abusers and controls in histrionic, antisocial, borderline and aggressive-sadistic, and abusers had higher scores than drug abusers and controls in dependent personality disorder. Our results highlight the need to take into account the existence of personality disorders in clinical population in order to design prevention and intervention strategies for drug abuse and domestic violence.
... First, there are reciprocal relationships between drug use and burglary with qualitative studies showing that burglars sometimes instrumentally perpetrate burglary to obtain goods to sell or trade for drugs and sometimes consume drugs to prepare themselves for burglary (Bennett & Wright, 1984b;, 1993Cromwell, Olson, Avary, & Marks, 1991;Hochstetler, 2001;Shover, 1973;Tunnell, 1992). Although drug use is a risk factor for all sorts of crimes (Bennett, Holloway, & Farrington, 2008;DeLisi, Vaughn, Salas-Wright, & Jennings, 2015), violent crimes cannot usually yield material gain in the same way that burglary can. ...
Burglary is serious property crime with a relatively high incidence and has been shown to be variously associated with other forms of criminal behavior. Unfortunately, an epidemiological understanding of burglary and its correlates is largely missing from the literature. Using public-use data collected between 2002 and 2013 as part of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), the current study compared those who self-reported burglary arrest in the prior 12 months with and without criminal history. The unadjusted prevalence estimates of self-reported burglary arrest were statistically different for those with a prior arrest history (4.7%) compared with those without an arrest history (0.02%) which is a 235-fold difference. Those with an arrest history were more likely to report lower educational attainment, to have lower income, to have moved more than 3 times in the past 5 years, and to use alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs, and engage in binge drinking. Moreover, those with prior arrest histories were younger and more likely to be male. There is considerable heterogeneity among burglars with criminal history indicating substantially greater behavioral risk.
... But for the most severe offenders, violence and substance use were commingled. 22 Additional studies of subtypes of sexually-impulsive adults, juvenile detainees, drug sellers, criminal justice system clients, immigrants, and individuals with personality disorders similarly reveal the importance of broadband temperamental and personality deficits relating to low self-control and poor emotional regulation as central to antisocial conduct and collateral health and social burdens. 23e31 These findings are also consonant with leading theories in the criminal justice sciences. ...
Big data, the analysis of original datasets with large samples ranging from ∼30,000 to one million participants to mine unexplored data, has been under-utilized in criminology. However, there have been recent calls for greater synthesis between epidemiology and criminology and a small number of scholars have utilized epidemiological studies that were designed to measure alcohol and substance use to harvest behavioral and psychiatric measures that relate to the study of crime. These studies have been helpful in producing knowledge about the most serious, violent, and chronic offenders, but applications to more pathological forensic populations is lagging. Unfortunately, big data relating to crime and justice are restricted and limited to criminal justice purposes and not easily available to the research community. Thus, the study of criminal and forensic populations is limited in terms of data volume, velocity, and variety. Additional forays into epidemiology, increased use of available online judicial and correctional data, and unknown new frontiers are needed to bring criminology up to speed in the big data arena.
... Secondly, these findings may be interpreted in the context of previous literature documenting consistent co-morbidity in substance use, violence, and other delinquent behavior among youth (DeLisi, Vaughn, Salas-Wright, & Jennings, 2015;Piquero, Jennings, Diamond, & Reingle, 2015;Reyes, Foshee, Baure, Ennett, & 2012;Salas-Wright, Hernandez, Maynard, Saltzman, & Vaughn, 2014;Salas-Wright, Olate, & Vaughn, 2015;Stoddard et al., 2015;Vaughn, Salas-Wright, DeLisi, & Piquero, 2014;Vaughn, Salas-Wright, DeLisi, Shook, & Terzis, 2015). Although the temporality of these inter-relationships is unclear, early substance use initiation appears to enhance the likelihood violent and antisocial behavior during adolescence and young adulthood will occur (Craig, Morris, Piquero, Farrington, 2015;DuRant, Smith, Kreiter, Krowchuk, 1999;Maldonado-Molina, Reingle, & Jennings, 2011). ...
Background:
While it is known that substance use and violence co-occur, less is understood in terms of how this relationship might vary based on the degree of youth involvement in violence.
Objectives:
This study sought to examine the prevalence and degree that substance use disorders (SUD) and related intrapersonal and contextual factors were associated with violent attacks.
Method:
Repeated cross-sectional data from a population-based study (National Survey on Drug Use and Health) of youth ages 12-17 (n = 216,852) in the United States between 2002 and 2013 were pooled to increase the analytic sample size. Survey multinomial regression was used to examine psychosocial and substance use differences between youth reporting episodic (1-2 times, n = 13,091; 5.84%) and repeated violent attacks (3+ times, n = 1,819; 0.83%) in contrast with youth reporting no attacks. Additional analyses examined the association of sociodemographic, intrapersonal, and contextual factors with SUD among youth reporting violent attacks.
Results:
The prevalence of SUD among youth with no attacks was 6% compared to 22% among episodic and 36% among repeatedly violent youth. Violence-involved youth were substantially more likely to experience elevated sensation-seeking, easy drug access, and recent drug offers and less likely to benefit from religiosity and protective substance use beliefs.
Conclusions/importance:
Findings highlight the importance of distinguishing between the various gradations of violence among youth in understanding the relationship between substance use and violence, and shed light on the intrapersonal and contextual factors that can help identify violent youth at greatest risk for substance use problems.
... Finally, the link between substance use and involvement in crime has been broadly described in criminological literature (DeLisi, Vaughn, Salas-Wright, & Jennings, 2015). To illustrate, Kopak, Vartanian, Hoffmann, and Hunt (2014), and Phillips (2012) found significant associations between drug and alcohol use and involvement in violent crimes. ...
This study aims to investigate the role of ability emotional intelligence (EI) in predicting criminal behavior from a life-span perspective, over and above psychopathy. Psychopathic individuals are characterized by a deviant lifestyle and an inability to regulate emotion. A sample of 29 male inmates was administered the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS), the Buss�Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ), the Psychopathy Checklist � Revised (PCL-R), the Mayer�Salovey�Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT), and five dichotomous items that are converged into the Criminal Behavior Index (CBI). Correlation analysis showed a complex pattern of relationships among the variables. The MSCEIT Experiential area of EI together with CISS Emotion-oriented Coping and PCL-R Social Deviance are found to significantly predict the CBI. The results offer promising findings for the assessment of the relationship between personality traits, emotional abilities and criminal behavior across the life span. Furthermore, the results suggest that EI is an important feature for implementing prevention programs of criminal behavior and recidivism.
... A vast body of research has documented the relationship between alcohol consumption and interpersonal violence, including individual and group fighting, handgun use, violent attacks, intimate partner violence, arrest for aggravated assault, forcible rape, and homicide DeLisi, Vaughn, Salas-Wright, & Jennings, 2015;Reyes, Foshee, Bauer, & Ennett, 2012;Salas-Wright, Hernandez, Maynard, Saltzman, & Vaughn, 2014;Salas-Wright, Olate, & Vaughn, 2015;Shook, Vaughn, & Salas-Wright, 2013;Stoddard et al., 2014;Vaughn, Salas-Wright, Cooper-Sadlo, Maynard, & Larson, 2015). Evidence from prospective studies suggests that alcohol use during adolescence increases risk for violence during adolescence and into young adulthood (Craig, Morris, Piquero, & Farrington, 2015;Maldonado-Molina, Reingle, & Jennings, 2010;Odgers et al., 2008;Reingle, Jennings, & Maldonado-Molina, 2011;Reingle et al., 2012). ...
Background: Despite the accumulation of studies examining the link between alcohol use and violence, no studies to our knowledge have systematically set out to detect age-related differences in these relationships. This limitation inhibits important insights into the stability of the relationship between alcohol use and violence among youth across varying ages.
Method: Study findings are based on repeated, cross-sectional data collected annually as part of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health between 2002 and 2013. We combined a series of nationally representative cross-sections to provide a multi-year string of data that, in effect, reflects a nationally representative non-traditional cohort. We conducted logistic regression analyses to examine the cross-sectional association between non-binge and binge drinking and violent attacks among youth between ages 12 (2002) and 24/25 (2013).
Results: With respect to the association between non-binge alcohol use and violence, the only significant relationship identified—while controlling for sociodemographic and drug use factors—was for youth at age 13 (2003; OR = 1.97, 95% CI = 1.04–3.72). For binge drinking, we identified a distinct pattern of results. Controlling for sociodemographic, drug use factors, and school enrollment, binge drinking was significantly associated with violence between ages 13 (2003) and 20 (2010) with the largest odds ratios observed during the early adolescent period.
Conclusions: Non-binge drinking is associated with violent behavior at age 13. Binge drinking was found to be associated with violence among youth through age 20; however, the relationship dissipates when youth arrive at the legal drinking age of 21.
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.
The Entity explores Bundy’s comorbid psychopathology, or the other clinical conditions that affected his conduct and can be used to understand it. Here, Bundy’s discussions with investigative and media interviewers are especially helpful in digesting his motives, his physiological and psychological drives, and his struggle to contain these drives. Much of Bundy’s psychopathology involved sexually deviant behaviors, or paraphilic disorders, that explained the versatility with which he would sexually abuse an array of victims. Moreover, his intellectual functioning facilitated a forensic awareness that allowed Bundy to perpetrate sexual assaults and sexual homicides without leaving much in the way of physical evidence, an asset that resulted in most of his crimes remaining unsolved.
Objective: This report aims to identify US mutual help group (MHG) participants' psycho-socio-behavioral profiles. Method: We used data from the 2015-2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health and the sample included 1022 adults with past-year substance use disorders (SUD). We conducted a latent class analysis to identify subgroups of MHG participants and estimated multinomial logistic regression models to examine the associations between sociodemographic/intrapersonal characteristics and class membership. Results: Analyses identified three latent classes. Class 1 (Low-Risk group, 54%) reported low risks in all correlates except for serious psychological distress (SPD, 33%). Class 2 (Psychological Distress group, 30%) demonstrated high risks of major depressive episodes (86%) and SPD (93%). Class 3 (Criminal Justice System Involvement group, 16%) showed high involvement in arrests (100%) and drug-related arrests (67%) and moderate risks for SPD (54%) and behavioral problems, e.g., drug selling (46%) and theft (35%). Compared to Class 1, Class 2 was more likely to be female, out of the labor force, and to show high risk propensity, and Class 3 was more likely to have lower education and drug use disorders. Class 3 was also less likely to be older, belong to the "other" racial/ethnic category, have lower English proficiency, and report alcohol use disorder. Conclusions: The three subgroups of the US MHG participant population illustrate the complex and heterogeneous psycho-social-behavioral profiles of MHG participants with SUD. MHG referral's effectiveness may be augmented by tailoring it to the patient/client's specific psycho-socio-behavioral profile.
The relationship between drug use and violence has a strong empirical basis, with recent studies finding that violent crime of drug users could be due to both drug abuse and pre-existing risk factors like childhood maltreatment and conduct disorder. However, results regarding the mechanism underlying drug use–violence nexus are less consistent. It is unclear how these pre-existing risk factors associate drug use with violent offending. More research exploring mediating factors of the path from childhood maltreatment to violence is in need, especially when drug use variables are included. As such, this study aims to investigate the role of pre-existing risk factor in shaping the drug use–violence association. Data on demographics, drug use, violent offending and pre-existing risk factor were collected between 2018 and 2021 in a sample of housed drug users (N = 202). According to regression analysis results, childhood maltreatment, conduct disorder and onset age of committing crime are predictive of violent arrests of drug users after controlling other covariates. Furthermore, support was found through Structural Equation Modeling analyses for pathways from childhood maltreatment to violent arrests and aggression subsequently mediated by conduct disorder and onset age of committing crime. Limitations and implications are discussed.
Longitudinal investigations of associations between offending and health are rare. Studies which have investigated this relationship principally focus on mental health within samples of incarcerated offenders. Therefore, the physical health of offenders outside secure settings, henceforth ‘community offenders’, form an under-researched and potentially vulnerable group. To address the limited knowledge on the relationship between community offenders and health, this thesis utilised access to a unique prospective longitudinal study, The Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (CSDD), and conducted two global systematic reviews and meta-analyses. This aim of this thesis is to use these data sources to longitudinally, systematically, and meta-analytically investigate to what extent community offenders have poorer physical health across the life-course and die prematurely compared to non-offenders. Chapter 1 provides an introduction together with a comprehensive review of the current evidence and theorizations behind the health-crime relationship. This highlights the limitations and gaps in the literature to date and sets out how this thesis seeks to contribute to this debate. Within Chapter 2, the first central focus, in contrast to the conviction and risk factor analyses previously performed, is on temporary versus persistently antisocial persons, based on three offending trajectories (see: Moffitt, 1993; Jolliffe, Farrington, Piquero, McLeod, & Van de Weijer, 2017b): Life-Course-Persistent, Adolescence-Limited, and Late-Onset offenders. These three typologies constitute qualitatively distinct types of person and their different offending pathways may bear differential risks for adult health. By using data from the CSDD, the new approach in this thesis investigates the longitudinal impact of criminal behaviour on physical health problems in self-reports and General Practitioner (GP) data by testing the following hypothesis: individuals who commit offences earlier in their lives and have prolonged criminal careers will suffer from greater physical health problems than individuals who have short criminal careers. These early onset individuals, it is further hypothesised, will also have greater odds of injury and hospitalization than Late-Onset offenders, who in turn will have greater odds than Non-offenders. These CSDD longitudinal analyses found that, when considering organic illnesses (respiratory tract, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, skin, allergic, gastrointestinal and infectious illnesses) and hospitalizations (the number of hospital visits), the impact of offending on health becomes more serious if offending persists beyond adolescence. The second focus of Chapter 2 was to conduct further analyses investigating the relationship between psychosocial risk factors at age 8-10, antisocial personality (ASP) at ages 18, 32 and 48, and poor physical health (based on self-reports and GP records). These analyses found that high ASP scores at ages 18, 32 and 48 were related to a high prevalence of hospitalization. They also found that, according to GP records, high ASP scores at age 32 were related to poor physical health, and high ASP scores at age 48 were related to more mental illness and disabling medical conditions. These three CSDD analyses also highlight age-specific health implications related to the ages at which offenders begin and end their delinquent behaviour. Unfortunately, these findings could not be supplemented through a systematic review and meta-analysis, due to the paucity of existing studies. The worst consequence of poor physical health is premature mortality, so this element of the health-crime relationship was subsequently investigated in Chapter 3. In Chapter 3, a systematic review and meta-analysis sought to establish whether community offenders die prematurely compared to non-offender community and population comparison samples. Thirty-six studies met the inclusion criteria (N= 1,116,614). Premature mortality is a significant issue for non-incarcerated offenders in general (OR= 3.42), and for ex-prisoners in particular (OR= 4.51). Offenders were more likely to die from unnatural violent causes (OR= 3.97) and natural causes (OR= 2.06) than non-offenders, with a meta-regression revealing that time at risk was not a significant factor (z= -0.01, p= 0.12). These results suggest that the rates of premature mortality previously found for offenders do not just reflect the impact of mental illness on these individuals, but rather that offending and its correlates may have a significant physiological impact on the body. Suicide was of particular interest when considering the causes of premature mortality in community offenders, one of the most prominent causes of death in offenders (Fazel, Benning, & Danesh, 2005) and males globally (WHO, 2018). A further systematic and review and meta-analysis was therefore conducted to investigate this significant element of the health-crime relationship. In Chapter 4, a second systematic review and meta-analysis sought to establish whether community offenders were more likely to commit suicide compared with community and general population comparison groups. Fifteen studies met the inclusion criteria (N= 602,347) and highlight that non-incarcerated offenders are significantly more likely to commit suicide compared with non-offenders (OR= 4.54), with time at risk being a non-significant factor. Ex-prisoners had a high likelihood of suicide (OR= 4.18), but not as high as offenders who had not been incarcerated (OR= 7.62). Chapter 5 presents limitations concerning the studies conducted in Chapters 2, 3 and 4, in addition to providing recommendations for future research. Although this thesis could not provide directional or causal conclusions, Chapter 6 argues that the evidence provided suggests that the antisocial lifestyles that offenders lead when out of secure environments pose a significant risk to physical health. It is likely that the antisocial lifestyle of offenders causes processes which damage their health over time, and several criminological, epidemiological and medical theories are discussed to explain these links. Overall, community offenders form a vulnerable group who require targeted interventions to reduce the incidence of poor physical health, mortality and suicide across the lifespan. Yet, the prior research and literature reviewed within this thesis demonstrates that community offenders form an under-researched group, with methodologically limited research conducted to date. Until there is further understanding of the health-crime relationship, the nature of these interventions remains impossible to comment upon. Future directions for new research are discussed which aim to produce further robust evidence on the relationship between community offenders and poor health, together with the differences between individual prospective longitudinal work and population level meta-analytic findings. These approaches should seek to establish causality and directionality of relationships and inform the design of future interventions. The findings of this thesis, with respect to the health-crime relationship, should be viewed as a future public health challenge and continue to inform the evidence from which targeted interventions can be developed, with the aspiration of improving the health and life chances of community-based offenders.
Adverse childhood events related to violence suffered have developmental consequences such as the reproduction of such violence in intimate relationships and substance misuse in the later life trajectory. The objective of this study was to analyze the relationship between suffering adverse childhood events and excessive consumption of alcohol and drugs in 120 men, with a mean age of 40.51 years ( SD = 11.06), who have abused women in a relationship. The results indicate that those who suffered abuse in childhood and other adverse childhood events in the family of origin consumed alcohol and drugs in excess. Furthermore, the regression models show that alcohol consumption is related to previous substance use by parents, while drug use is related to leaving home due to family conflicts. Also, the consumption of alcohol and other substances is likewise associated with consumption by parents and conflicts within the family. The size of the effect of the relationship increases when different forms of poly-victimization coexist. Conflict treatment is necessary in any setting, especially when it takes place in the family environment and at an early age, to avoid the transmission of maladaptive behaviors associated with substance misuse and violence.
The “Worst of Both Worlds” (WBW) hypothesis holds that individuals who both commit crime and misuse drugs are at significantly greater risk for future crime and drug problems than individuals who only commit crime or only misuse drugs. In the current investigation, two developmental antecedents of crime and substance use—school bullying and alcohol experimentation—were used to form four WBW conditions (no bullying or alcohol experimentation, alcohol experimentation without bullying, bullying without alcohol experimentation, and bullying with alcohol experimentation). Analyzing data from 3837 (1951 boys, 1886 girls) early adolescents from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (mean age = 12.4 years at baseline), it was noted that children who engaged in bullying and had experimented with alcohol by age 12/13 were significantly more likely to increase their involvement in delinquency and substance use by age 16/17 compared to children who did not engage in bullying and had not experimented with alcohol, children who bullied but had not experimented with alcohol, and children who experimented with alcohol but had not bullied. These results not only support the WBW hypothesis, they also suggest that the effect may have developmental origins beyond similarities in externalizing symptomatology.
Background
Alcohol-related physical violence (ARPV) can be a causal consequence of alcohol consumption, but only for specific individuals (e.g., those predisposed to violence). Studies have not accounted for the shared etiology explaining comorbidity between alcohol use and violent behavior as a potential third-variable explanation of ARPV. The current study examined genetically-informed associations between ARPV, heavy alcohol use (HAU) and overall physical violence (OPV) in adolescence and young adulthood, by testing two proposed theories of ARPV processes (HAU causes ARPV, causal relationships depend upon OPV) and how overarching shared covariance may account for these associations.
Methods
Using the twin and sibling subsample from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), a series of biometric models tested hypotheses individually in adolescence and young adulthood. This included estimating bivariate Cholesky and direction-of-causality models, and trivariate Cholesky, independent pathway, and common pathway models.
Results
HAU had a causal effect on ARPV in adolescence and young adulthood. This effect was not moderated by OPV at either developmental stage. A shared etiology or common latent factor did not explain associations between ARPV, OPV, and HAU, even though ARPV strongly covaried independently with HAU and with OPV. Finally, OPV also had a causal effect on ARPV in adolescence, and in young adulthood for adolescent-onset drinkers.
Conclusions
Causal theories of ARPV still hold when accounting for shared genetic and environmental variance. Further research on the exact role of violence (predispositions, environmental contexts) is required, as both phenotypes substantially (and separately) explain influences driving ARPV.
Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2021.1887244.
Studies on criminal behaviors largely focus on youth and younger adults. While criminal engagement declines with age, the aging population and significant costs associated with older offenders warrant their increased clinical and research attention. The present study utilizes data from the 2002 to 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health to estimate the prevalence and explore the sociodemographic and psychosocial correlates of criminal behavior in adults aged 50 years and older. The overall prevalence of older adults engaging in criminal behaviors during this time was approximately 1.20%. There was no significant difference in crime involvement between adults aged 50 to 64 years and 65 years and older. Older individuals who committed crimes were more likely to be male and Black and earning low income. Criminality was also associated with use of illicit substances and depression as well as receipt of mental health treatment.
To take stock of the “neighborhood effects” of drug activity, we combined theoretical insights from the drugs and crime and communities and place literatures in examining the longitudinal relationship between drug activity and crime rates at more spatially and temporally precise levels of granularity, with blocks as the spatial units and months as the temporal units. We found that drug activity on a block one month “pushes” assaultive violence into surrounding blocks the next month. Integrating perspectives form social disorganization theory with Zimring and Hawkins’ (1997) contingency causation theory, we also found that the economic resources and residential stability of the “the larger social environment”—that is, the surrounding quarter-mile egohood area—moderate drug activity’s block-level relationship to crime. These results suggest that drug activity increases assaultive violence and serious acquisitive crime rates on structurally advantaged blocks, producing a significant ecological niche redefinition for such blocks relative to others in Miami-Dade County, Florida.
Purpose: One of the shortcomings of survey trend data on substance use among racial and ethnic groups is not accounting for any criminal history effects. We address this missing piece by examining trends in illicit substance use and binge drinking among those arrested and booked for a crime. Methods: Survey data collected between 2002 and 2013 as part of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). Trend analyses were restricted to non-Hispanic whites, African-Americans, and Hispanic adolescents (ages 12-17) and young adults in the sample (ages 18-25) who report being arrested and booked for a crime. Results: Findings reveal a severity-based gradient in which the prevalence of illicit drug use is lowest among African-Americans, incrementally higher among Hispanics, and highest among non-Hispanic whites. This gradient, observable among both developmental subgroups, is particularly evident among young adult offenders. Discussion: While drug-related crimes are one of several fuels of incarceration, the racial and ethnic disparity in use does not necessarily indicate a causal connection with respect to race and crime, as many other factors could be driving the increased prevalence of crime among non-white populations such as possessing a greater number of risk factors for offending other than substance use.
Continuing with our biosocial, life-course approach to drug abuse and antisocial behavior we focus here on the adolescent period, which we define as beginning with puberty and ending when the frontal areas of the brain have reached a relative degree of maturity. In particular, we examine three interrelated issues that are fundamentally rooted in the framework and the logic of a developmental, life-course perspective. First, we examine the importance of early-onset alcohol and drug use and its connection to concurrent and adult persistent drug abuse and antisocial behavior. Next, we examine child-persistent versus adolescent-onset behavior problems. We make the case that a limited degree of low-grade antisocial behavior can be said to be somewhat normative during adolescence, but also argue that frequent and severe problem behavior during adolescence is anything but normative. Finally, keeping in mind the complex web of causality, we examine avenues by which drug abuse and antisocial behavior co-occur in the lives of many adolescents.
Background:
Substance use and crime/recidivism are irrevocably linked. We explore the nuances of this association by highlighting the prevalence, trends, and correlates of substance use dsorders in a large group of probationers/parolees.
Methods:
We examined SUDs among probationers and parolees in the United States using data from the National Study on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). Logistic regression models were computed to examine eight distinct outcomes: alcohol abuse, illicit drug abuse, marijuana/hashish abuse, comorbid alcohol and illicit drug abuse, alcohol dependence, illicit drug dependence, marijuana/hashish dependence, and comorbid alcohol and illicit drug dependence.
Results:
Probationers/parolees have high prevalence rates across all SUDs categories and these trends have been relatively constant. Prevalence rates for alcohol abuse and dependence are two to six times higher than for marijuana and other illicit drug abuse and dependence. Key correlates of substance abuse for probationers/parolees include: age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, income, risk propensity, crime/violence measures, and comorbid substance abuse. Similar correlates were found for substance dependence, in addition to employment and mental health treatment.
Conclusions:
This study indicates that SUDs are higher among probationer/parolees as compared to their non-supervised counterparts - between four and nine times higher - and these levels have changed little in recent years. Effectively responding to SUDs in this population may enhance adherence to supervision requirements, prevent recidivism, and improve public safety. We may be better served using limited funds for further development of evidence-based policies and programs, such as drug courts, which demonstrate reductions in both drug use and recidivism.
Explaining group-level outcomes from individual-level predictors requires aggregating the individual-level scores to the group level and correcting the group-level estimates for measurement errors in the aggregated scores. However, for discrete variables it is not clear how to perform the aggregation and correction. It is shown how stepwise latent class analysis can be used to do this. First, a latent class model is estimated in which the scores on a discrete individual-level predictor are used to construct group-level latent classes. Second, this latent class model is used to aggregate the individual-level predictor by assigning the groups to the latent classes. Third, a group-level analysis is performed in which the aggregated measures are related to the remaining group-level variables while correcting for the measurement error in the class assignments. This stepwise approach is introduced in a multilevel mediation model with a single individual-level mediator, and compared to existing methods in a simulation study. We also show how a mediation model with multiple group-level latent variables can be used with multiple individual-level mediators and this model is applied to explain team productivity (group level) as a function of job control (individual level), job satisfaction (individual level), and enriched job design (group level).
The link between drug use and crime has been broadly described, but little detail is known about the contributions of alcohol and drug dependence to different types of offending. Data were drawn from the 2010 Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring II (ADAM II) program to examine the relationships between dependence, offense type, and severity among recent male arrestees (N = 3,006). A substantial proportion (ranging from 15% to 39%) of arrestees across all offense types and severity levels endorsed drug-dependent items. Smaller proportions (between 5% and 16%) of arrestees endorsed alcohol-dependent items. Drug dependence was associated with higher odds of receiving felony charges and higher probability of being charged with a substancerelated offense. Alcohol dependence was associated with lower odds of felony charges, but greater probability of being charged with a violent offense. Assessment and treatment provisions need to be systematically implemented to reduce these types of offenses.
There has been a rapid proliferation of drug courts over the past two decades. Empirical research examining the effectiveness of the model has generally demonstrated reduced rates of recidivism among program participants. However, relatively little is known about the structure and processes associated with effective drug courts. The current study seeks to address the issues by exploring the moderating influence of programmatic and non-programmatic characteristics on effectiveness. The methodology goes beyond previous meta-analyses by supplementing published (and unpublished) findings with a survey of drug court administrators. Consistent with previous research, the results revealed drug courts reduce recidivism by 9% on average. Further analyses indicated target population, program leverage and intensity, and staff characteristics explain the most variability in drug court effectiveness. These findings are discussed within the context of therapeutic jurisprudence and effective interventions.
Using Pittsburgh Youth Study data, we examined the extent to which over 600 gang members and non–gang-involved young men specialized in drug selling, serious theft, or serious violence, or engaged simultaneously in these serious delinquent behaviors, throughout the 1990s. We found that the increase in delinquency associated with gang membership was concentrated in two combinations: serious violence and drug selling; and serious violence, drug selling, and serious theft. Several covariates were similarly associated with multitype serious delinquency and gang membership (age, historical time, Black race, and residential mobility), suggesting that these behaviors may share common developmental, familial, and contextual risks. We encourage future research to further examine the association of gang membership with engagement in particular configurations of serious delinquency.
Purpose
There have been a number of prior studies that have investigated the relationship between tattoos and crime with most documenting evidence of an association. Specifically, prior research often suggests that individuals with tattoos commit more crime, are disproportionately concentrated in offender and institutionalized populations, and often have personality disorders. Having said this, the bulk of the prior research on this topic has been correlational.
Methods
In the current study, we rely on data from a prospective longitudinal study of 411 British males from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development and employ propensity score matching to determine if the link between tattoos and crime may in fact be causal.
Results
Results suggest that having tattoos is better considered as a symptom of another set of developmental risk factors and personality traits that are both related to tattooing and being involved in crime rather than as a causal factor for predicting crime over the life-course.
Conclusions
Study limitations and directions for future research are discussed.
Purpose
Measures of adolescent psychopathy have yet to be examined in offending trajectory studies. This may explain why identifying etiological differences between individuals following high-rate and moderate-rate offending trajectories has remained elusive. The current study used the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV) to examine psychopathic traits and offending trajectories within a sample of incarcerated offenders.
Methods
Convictions were measured for Canadian male (n = 243) and female (n = 64) offenders at each year between ages 12 and 28. Semi-parametric group based modeling identified four unique trajectories: adolescence-limited (AL) (27.3% of sample), explosive-onset fast desister (EOFD) (30.6%), high-rate slow desister (HRSD) (14.6%), and high frequency chronic (HFC) (27.5%).
Findings
Both a three and a four factor model of psychopathy were tested, and both factor structures were positively and significantly associated with the HRSD and HFC trajectories. Regarding individual factors of psychopathy, the ‘Antisocial’ factor of the PCL:YV was the only individual dimension significantly associated with membership in high-rate compared to moderate-rate offending trajectories.
Conclusions
Psychopathic traits appear more commonly present amongst individuals who follow chronic versus moderate offending trajectories. Implications for early intervention and risk management of offenders are discussed.
Purpose
The objective of this research was to synthesize the empirical evidence on the effectiveness of adult drug courts to serve as an alternative to incarceration, and to investigate which features of drug courts predict successful diversion.
Methods
We performed a series of meta-analyses of different incarceration outcomes, and performed meta-regression analyses investigating which features of drug courts predict successful diversion.
Results
Drug courts significantly reduced the incidence of incarceration on the precipitating offense, corresponding to a reduction in confinement from 50% to 42% for jail and 38% for prison incarceration. However, drug courts did not significantly reduce the average amount of time offenders spent behind bars, suggesting that any benefits realized from a lower incarceration rate are offset by the long sentences imposed on participants when they fail the program. Meta-regression results indicated that certain drug courts features (i.e., program intensity, in-program sanctions, risk profile of participants) are related to incarceration outcomes.
Conclusions
The evidence concerning drug courts impact on incarceration is mixed. Drug courts eliminate the experience of incarceration for many drug-involved offenders, but they also do not appear to reduce the aggregate, near-term burden placed upon correctional resources. More research is required to confirm these findings.
Latent class analysis is a clustering method that is nowadays widely used in social science research. Researchers applying latent class analysis will typically not only construct a typology based on a set of observed variables but also investigate how the encountered clusters are related to other, external variables. Although it is possible to incorporate such external variables into the latent class model itself, researchers usually prefer using a three-step approach. This is the approach wherein after establishing the latent class model for clustering (step 1), one obtains predictions for the class membership scores (step 2) and subsequently uses these predicted scores to assess the relationship between class membership and other variables (step 3). Bolck, Croon, and Hagenaars (2004) showed that this approach leads to severely downward-biased estimates of the strength of the relationships studied in step 3. These authors and later also Vermunt (2010) developed methods to correct for this bias. In the current study, we extended these correction methods to situations where class membership is not predicted but used as an explanatory variable in the third step, a situation widely encountered in social science applications. A simulation study tested the performance of the proposed correction methods, and their practical use was illustrated with real data examples. The results showed that also when the latent class variable is used as a predictor of external variables, the uncorrected three-step approach leads to severely biased estimates. The proposed correction methods perform well under conditions encountered in practice.
Although substance abuse often accompanies delinquency and other forms of antisocial behavior, there is less scholarly agreement about the timing of substance use vis-à-vis an individual's antisocial trajectory. Similarly, although there is extraordinary evidence that onset is inversely related to the severity of the criminal career, there is surprisingly little research on the offense type of onset or the type of antisocial behavior that was displayed when an individual initiated his or her offending career. Drawing on data from a sample of serious adult criminal offenders (N = 500), the current study examined 12 forms of juvenile delinquency (murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, auto theft, arson, weapons, sexual offense, drug sales, and drug use) in addition to age at arrest onset, age, sex, race to explore their association with chronicity (total arrests), extreme chronicity (1 SD above the mean which was equivalent to 90 career arrests), and lambda (offending per year). The only onset offense type that was significantly associated with all criminal career outcomes was juvenile drug use. Additional research on the offense type of delinquent onset is needed to understand launching points of serious antisocial careers.
PurposeTo comprehensively review the literature on the number and shape of latent group-based trajectories of violence, aggression, and delinquency.Materials and MethodsA systematic and exhaustive search of several academic databases (e.g., Criminal Justice Abstracts, Web of Knowledge, EBSCO Host, PsychInfo, PubMed) was conducted. Google Scholar searches were conducted to locate articles that are currently “in press.”ResultsThis narrative meta-review identified 105 studies that used latent trajectory modeling to describe the number and shape of violence, aggression, and delinquency trajectories. The number of trajectory groups ranges from 2-7 groups. However, most studies report between 3 and 4 groups, loosely including life-course persistent or chronic offenders, a group of escalators or desistors, and one group that does not exhibit violent, aggressive, or delinquent behavior.Conclusions
There is substantial variability in the number and shape of trajectory groups across samples, measurement, developmental phase of the life-course captured, length of observation, and geographical context. However, the studies are largely consistent with Moffitt's taxonomy. Future research should extend trajectory modeling beyond description to examine theoretically relevant risk and protective factors for violence, aggression, and delinquency, investigate empirically relevant outcomes associated with violence, aggression, and delinquency, and focus on policy-relevant research.
A prominent perspective in the gang literature suggests that gang member involvement in drug selling does not necessarily increase violent behavior. In addition it is unclear from previous research whether neighborhood disadvantage strengthens that relationship. We address these issues by testing hypotheses regarding the confluence of neighborhood disadvantage, gang membership, drug selling, and violent behavior. A three-level hierarchical model is estimated from the first five waves of the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, matched with block-group characteristics from the 2000 U.S. Census. Results indicate that (1) gang members who sell drugs are significantly more violent than gang members that don't sell drugs and drug sellers that don't belong to gangs; (2) drug sellers that don't belong to gangs and gang members who don't sell drugs engage in comparable levels of violence; and (3) an increase in neighborhood disadvantaged intensifies the effect of gang membership on violence, especially among gang members that sell drugs.
Purpose: Despite continued increase in research on general strain theory (GST), previous studies on the relationship between GST and other criminological theories has been limited. To fill this gap in GST research, the present study aims to examine whether non-strain variables of social bonding theory, social learning theory, and self-control theory, as well as negative emotions mediate and moderate the effects of strain on crime and drug use. Methods: Ordinary least squares regressions were applied to conduct a simultaneous analysis of mediation and moderation effects, using multiple waves of the restricted-use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Results: The non-strain variables of social bonds and low self-control, but not deviant peer association, as well as trait anger and state depression/anxiety mediate the effects of strain on crime and drug use, but hypotheses about the moderating effects of these variables receive less support. Conclusions: The central claims of GST need to be expanded to include non-emotive mediators of the effects of strain on crime, given that negative emotions are not expected to fully mediate the criminogenic effects of strain.
The impetus of the drug court movement can be traced to a number of factors, such as the social and organizational costs of imprisonment and the literature surrounding the effectiveness of community-based treatment. Regardless of its origins, however, drug courts have altered the way in which court systems process drug cases and respond to drug-dependent offenders. Evaluations of U.S. drug courts are beginning to emerge, and although the outcome results are encouraging, not all courts are showing a reduction in rearrest rates. Despite the rapid expansion of drug courts, their growing prevalence, and popularity, little is known about the drug court model's ability to achieve its objectives in a variety of circumstances. This research adds to the literature on drug courts by examining the effect of drug court programming on multiple indicators of recidivism. Results of the study are mixed; however, the drug court treatment group did perform better when examining arrest for a drug-related offense.
Research provides strong support for the theory that drug market participants are often involved in violent retaliation because they lack access to formal mediation. Yet retaliation is not always violent. The existing drug market literature offers few counts, estimates, or stories of non-violent retaliation, and no single theory specifies the variable conditions that determine which form of retaliation occurs. This paper contributes to criminology by drawing on the necessary conditions perspective and qualitative data obtained from drug dealers to provide the conceptual and theoretical foundation for future criminological work, including the development of theories that explain variability in retaliatory forms, research that demonstrates whether any given theory is supported by data, and criminal justice policies that draw on theoretical and empirical knowledge to reduce all forms of drug market retaliationviolent and non-violent.
Although there has been intense interest in the application of the construct of psychopathy among juveniles, few studies have investigated psychopathic traits among adolescent females. To redress this, this study examines psychopathic features and tests their utility in predicting violent behavior, theft, and drug abuse in a statewide survey of 94 female juvenile offenders. Results indicate that interpersonal and affective facets of psychopathy, specifically narcissism and carefree nonplanfulness were significantly associated with violence and theft. Psychopathy features were not significantly associated with drug abuse. Study limitations and implications for future research are delineated.
Prior research has identified a small group of adolescents who completely refrain from delinquent behavior. Researchers have hypothesized that these adolescents may be excluded from normative peer activities and are thus insulated from delinquent peer role models. A central argument in Moffitt’s account of delinquency abstention, for example, is that delinquency abstainers are socially isolated due to certain unappealing physical/personality characteristics. Using the detailed friendship network data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), the authors attempt to test Moffitt’s account of delinquency abstention, particularly the association between social exclusion and delinquency. Their results do not suggest strong empirical support for the hypothesis that delinquency abstention is ‘‘correlated with unpopularity and social isolation.’’ The complex associations between adolescent friendship network characteristics and delinquency abstention highlight the necessity for future research on peer contexts in which adolescents are embedded. The authors’ findings appear to challenge Moffitt’s theory, suggesting the need for certain modifications.
This study uses general strain theory to examine the direct and indirect relationship between early victimization and drug use. Few previous studies measure strain as victimization. Also, past studies tend to combine drug use measures with delinquency measures. This study expands this research by operationalizing strain as early victimization and using measures of both frequency and onset of drug use. National Survey of Adolescents data is used to test the hypotheses. The results show that when youth are victimized they will use drugs more frequently and use drugs at a younger age. These relationships were only partially mediated by social bonds and negative emotions.
Juvenile drug courts have emerged as “innovative” responses to juvenile drug offenders, but comparatively little is known
about their operations. This paper presents results of a retrospective comparison of drug court participants to an adolescent
substance abuse program (ASAP) to examine which participants fared better in terms of future recidivism. Using data collected
from official case files, we compared recidivism levels for all juveniles (n = 150) terminated from drug court between 1996
and 1999 with those of a random sample of juveniles (n = 158) terminated from ASAP during 1994 and 1995. Biand multivariate
analyses were conducted to identify whether significant differences existed between the groups concerning re-arrest (recidivism)
over a 24-month post-release observation period. Study results highlighted by logistic regression analyses suggesting that
juveniles in drug court were no more likely to recidivate than were juveniles in ASAP is a positive finding for the drug court
program and is an indication that the program is working, especially given the serious nature of this juvenile offender population.
The impetus of the drug court movement can be traced to a number of factors, such as the social and organizational costs of imprisonment and the literature surrounding the effectiveness of community-based treatment. Regardless of its origins, however drug courts have altered the way in which court systems process drug cases and respond to drug-dependent offenders. Evaluations of U.S. drug courts are beginning to emerge, and although the outcome results are encouraging, not all courts are showing a reduction in rearrest rates. Despite the rapid expansion of drug courts, their growing prevalence, and popularity, little is known about the drug court model's ability to achieve its objectives in a variety of circumstances. This research adds to the literature on drug courts by examining the effect of drug court programming on multiple indicators of recidivism. Results of the study are mixed; however the drug court treatment group did perform better when examining arrest for a drug-related offense.
Research on drug use often fails to account for drug dealing in most analyses of violence and other systemic risks associated with illegal drugs. The current study examined whether drug dealing, independent of its connection to drug use, increases involvement with delinquent peers, violence, weapons, and other drug-related conflicts. Data were drawn from the first two waves of the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (N = 1,148). Hierarchical linear models were used to investigate changes in these behaviors that resulted from the respondents’ involvement in drug dealing and drug use. Results indicate that involvement in drug dealing, controlling for drug use, increases violence and other systemic risks to a level that drug use alone is not likely to achieve. Findings also show, however, that drug use among dealers may reduce violence and limit contact with delinquent peers.
Career Criminals in Society examines the small but dangerous group of repeat offenders who are most damaging to society. The book encourages readers to think critically about the causes of criminal behavior and the potential of the criminal justice system to reduce crime. Author Matt DeLisi draws upon his own practitioner experience, interviewing criminal defendants to argue that career criminals can be combated only with a combination of prevention efforts and retributive criminal justice system policies.
Despite a vast number of empirical studies arguing for or against a causal relationship between illegal drug use and selling and violent behavior, the debate continues. In part this is due to methodological weaknesses of previous research. Using data from the Rochester Youth Development Study, the current study seeks to improve on prior research designs to allow for a more precise examination of the mechanisms that lead from an individual's drug use (chiefly, marijuana use in the current sample) and drug selling to violent action. Results will allow for greater confidence in making causal inference regarding a long-standing concern in the discipline.
This study describes the extent to which methamphetamine users perceive that their methamphetamine use has resulted in violent behavior, and describes the level of self-reported prevalence of specific violent criminal behaviors irrespective of methamphetamine use. Predictors of these two violence-related indicators, in terms of potential correlates from substance use history, criminal history, and health risk domains, are examined. Data were collected from extensive interviews of 350 methamphetamine users who received substance use treatment in a large California county. A majority (56%) perceived that their methamphetamine use resulted in violent behavior; 59% reported specific violent criminal behaviors. For more than half of those reporting violent criminal behavior, this behavior pattern began before methamphetamine initiation. Thus, for a subsample of methamphetamine users, violence may be related to factors other than methamphetamine use. Users' perceptions that their methamphetamine use resulted in violence appears strongest for those with the most severe methamphetamine-related problems, particularly paranoia.
The majority of research on connections between substance use and offending has been conducted among men, and newly adopted Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th ed. (DSM-5) criteria for substance use disorders have not yet been examined in the criminal justice population. The current study utilized the 2004 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities to assess the connection between DSM-5 alcohol and drug use disorders (DUDs) and the types of offenses for which women were incarcerated. Results show severe alcohol use disorders were significantly associated with violent offenses while severe DUDs were more likely to contribute to property and drug-related offenses. These findings have direct implications for DSM-5 substance use disorder assessment and treatment programming for incarcerated women.
Purpose
Both social and human capital have been identified as important and influential sources for success in many different life domains and research shows that investments in the two forms of capital is negatively associated with crime. Three limitations with prior research include the lack of investigation of the capital/crime relationship (1) among serious adolescent offenders, (2) in a longitudinal manner linking capital to offending over time, and (3) within Hispanic samples.
Methods
The current study uses data from the Pathways to Desistance, a longitudinal study of serious adolescent offenders followed for seven years from mid-adolescence to early adulthood, in order to investigate the extent to which social and human capital are able to distinguish between distinct offending trajectories over seven years.
Results
Human but not social capital is relevant for distinguishing between offending trajectories, even after controlling for other risk factors, and the combined effect of human and social capital is even more pronounced.
Conclusions
The acquisition of social but especially human capital is preventive of crime among serious adolescent Hispanic offenders.
This research identified three subgroups of drug-involved men based on severity of self-reported violence perpetration against intimate or nonintimate partners among a sample of 148 men selected from a subsample of participants in the Kentucky National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
AIDS Cooperative Agreement. Men in the No Violence group accounted for approximately 19% of the total respondents, men in the Moderate Violence Severity and Extreme Violence Severity groups comprises 56% and 25% of the sample, respectively. Men in the Extreme Violence Severity group experienced
significantly more psychological victimization as children and more frequent physical childhood abuse than did their peers. Men in the Extreme Violence Severity group reported having earlier involvement in the criminal justice system and lawbreaking behavior; they also reported higher frequency
of marijuana and crack use. Implications for treatment and future research are presented.
A sizable majority of individuals report involvement in at least some delinquency during their lives. The small percentage of individuals who abstain from delinquency represents an interesting, yet underdeveloped area of research. The purpose of this article is to provide a general model for abstention from learning and integrated theories and propose a standard framework for operationalizing and measuring delinquency abstention. Data from Waves 1 to –9 of the National Youth Survey Family Study were used. Results are supportive of the integrated approach using suggested abstention measurement procedures. Predictors from learning theory had a more robust impact compared to social control variables.
PurposeThis study takes a situational approach to testing criminogenic peer influence effects on substance use by examining audience characteristics at the last two parties that adolescents attended. We examine the applicability of situational approaches to social learning theory and symbolic interactionist perspectives on criminogenic peer group effects.Methods
Using a sample of adolescents in a large Canadian city, we test the cross-sectional correlates of substance use at parties (n = 775) as well as how changes in audience characteristics relate to changes in substance use from one party to the next (n = 361).ResultsWe found that higher levels of substance use are more likely to occur in smaller group settings. But having more friends use alcohol/cannabis and in larger amounts is strongly related to greater personal substance use. Further, it was found that increases in the amount that friends drink/smoke from one party to the next is related to increases in personal substance use.Conclusions
There appears to be little support for a generalized audience effect; what is important is the behavior of peers in specific situations. Findings suggest that integrating a situational audience perspective provides valuable insights into peer influence dynamics.
PurposeAlcohol-related violence is a major public health problem, which can be tackled at a number of different levels, including societal, contextual, familial, social, and individual. The focus in this paper is on individual treatments to reduce the risk of violence associated with social drinking.Methods
This is a narrative review of the processes by which alcohol increases the likelihood of violence, with an emphasis on its deleterious effects on social information processing.ResultsAlcohol priming promotes aggression cognitions and behavior; the drinking context presents triggers for violence; alcohol focuses attention on aggression cues; alcohol outcome expectancies predict drinking; anxious antisocial people who drink to increase social confidence may be at increased risk for aggression; hypermasculine values play a part in aggressive responding; emotional responses of anger, fear and excitement play a part in aggressive responses to perceived provocation; having a broad and accessible aggressive response repertoire, along with positive evaluations of aggressive responses predict aggressive behavior.Conclusions
Additional intervention components that could improve the effectiveness of individual-level interventions for alcohol-related violence are suggested. These could augment conventional interventions, but there is a considerable amount of work to be done in developing applications specifically for alcohol-related violence and evaluating outcomes.