Showing papers in "International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology in 1993"
TL;DR: This article investigated the linkage between child maltreatment and later delinquency using a randomly selected sample of children from a cohort who attended schools in West Central Florida and found a significant relationship between abuse and delinquency.
Abstract: Many studies over the last 40 years have suggested links between child maltreatment and later delinquency. However, these studies have frequently been methodologically weak. The present study investigated the linkage between child abuse and delinquency using a randomly selected sample of children from a cohort who attended schools in West Central Florida. This study found a significant relationship between abuse and delinquency.
28Â citations
TL;DR: In this article, a program to increase internal locus of control by improving problem-solving skills was evaluated using a pre/post test experimental design with a three-month follow-up.
Abstract: Prisoners who maintain an internal locus of control adjust more effectively in prison and after release. A program to increase internal locus of control by improving problem-solving skills was evaluated using a pre/posttest experimental design with a three-month follow-up. One hundred sixty-eight prisoners were randomly assigned to a treatment or control group. Contrary to the underlying theory of treatment, and theory regarding the effects of incarceration, the prisoners were found to have an internal locus of control and adequate problem-solving skills. Thus, prisoners already possessed characteristics that treatment was implemented to facilitate. Plausible explanations are discussed. The findings have clear implications for future clinical work. The need for knowledge-building in this area is also discussed.
24Â citations
TL;DR: In this paper, three factors were examined: dissociation, locus of control, and alienation, and it was found that the sex offenders were more dissociated than the other two groups, more external on the overall measure of locus-of-control and more external than the community group on the subscale of self-control.
Abstract: To help understand and provide treatment programs suited to the needs of sex offenders more study is needed with respect to their personality characteristics. Three factors were examined: dissociation, locus of control, and alienation. Three groups of men were compared: 42 sex offenders, 26 nonsex offenders, and 42 men from a community control group. The MMPI subscales for alienation and the K scale, Bernstein and Putnam's dissociation scale, and Ried and Ware's multidimensional locus of control measure were combined and administered to the three groups. The sex offenders were found to be more dissociated than the other two groups, more external on the overall measure of locus of control and more external than the community group on the subscale of self-control. The sex offenders were found to be more alienated than the other two groups. Implications for treatment and further research are discussed.
23Â citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe child molesters whose behavior is inconsistent with the victimization-based explanations they offer for their offending, and some implications for intervention are briefly reviewed, and the relation of victimization and lack of empathy to cognitive distortions is considered.
Abstract: There are reports that childhood sexual victimization is more prevalent among child molesters than among males in the general population. It has been hypothesized that past victimization is causally related to sex offending. The causal link, however, is not well defined, and the rate of sexual victimization among molesters is similar to that reported among other forensic and psychiatric populations. It has also been argued that victimization has a paradoxical, negative effect on victim empathy. The role of cognitive or emotional empathy in offending, though, remains unclear. The value of promoting victim empathy in an attempt to reduce offending is questionable. This article describes child molesters whose behavior is inconsistent with the victimization-based explanations they offer for their offending. Some implications for intervention are briefly reviewed, and the relation of victimization and lack of empathy to cognitive distortions is considered.
21Â citations
TL;DR: In this article, the role of family background, substance abuse, depression, and hopelessness in predicting past suicidal behavior in 47 incarcerated juvenile delinquents was investigated, and depression was found to be the best predictor of both suicidal ideation and suicide attempt.
Abstract: The present study investigates the role of family background, substance abuse, depression, and hopelessness in predicting past suicidal behaviour in 47 incarcerated juvenile delinquents. Depression was found to be the best predictor of both suicidal ideation and suicide attempt. Aside from depression, no other factors achieved significance for predicting suicide risk, although suicide ideation significantly predicted suicide attempts.
18Â citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed an empirically derived multivariate taxonomy of shoplifters by cluster analysis, including demographic characteristics, past history, psychosocial stressors, and purpose in life measures.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to develop an empirically derived multivariate taxonomy of shoplifters by cluster analysis. Previously collected data from 75 suspected shoplifters, including demographic characteristics, past history, psychosocial stressors, and purpose in life measures as defined by the Purpose in Life (PIL), and Seeking of Noetic Goals (SONG) tests were analyzed. The results of cluster analysis indicate that shoplifters are a heterogeneous population consisting of a least four subgroups. Implications for treatment are discussed.
18Â citations
TL;DR: In this article, a random sample of front-line workers in the Canadian federal prison system was asked in interviews to provide examples of stressful situations in their lives, and to report how they coped with these situations.
Abstract: A random sample of front-line workers in the Canadian federal prison system was asked in interviews to provide examples of stressful situations in their lives, and to report how they coped with these situations. A variety of other measures was obtained, including demographic information, lifestyle and health-related behaviors, personal dispositions, coping efficacy, and several adaptational outcomes, including job performance, health, and personal satisfaction. Results showed that subjects experienced a wide array of significant stressors both on and off the job, yet demonstrated high levels of coping efficacy. Scores on several standardized questionnaire measures of personal disposition were similar to those from comparable samples in the general population. Subjects were not particularly dissatisfied with their jobs, and appeared to be performing them well. The majority enjoyed good health and appeared moderately satisfied with their lives. Thus, in contrast to some previous reports, this contemporary s...
15Â citations
TL;DR: Results supported previous findings regarding the prevalence of substance abuse problems among incarcerated offenders and implications for treatment programming for substance-abusing offenders are discussed.
Abstract: This study aimed at determining if alcohol, drug, or combined alcohol and drug abusing offenders differed in their characteristics from each other and from other non-substance abusing offenders, with the eventual goal of suggesting treatment strategies for these offenders. Offenders were classified into four groups: alcohol abusers, drug abusers, combined alcohol and drug abusers, and non-alcohol/non-drug abusers. Measurements used were the Level of Supervision Inventory (LSI) (Andrews, 1983) and Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) (Hare, 1985a, 1985b). Results supported previous findings regarding the prevalence of substance abuse problems among incarcerated offenders. The combined alcohol/drug abusing offenders had the highest scores among the groups on all items and total score of the LSI; the majority of items, total score, Factors I and 2 of the PCL-R. They were followed by drug abusers, alcoholics, the non-alcohol/non-drug abusing offenders. Implications for treatment programming for substance-abu...
14Â citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyzed the trends and conditions of imprisonment in Nigeria and revealed an upsurge in prisons admissions, and a high proportion of detainees and inmates remanded pending trial.
Abstract: This article analyzes the trends and conditions of imprisonment in Nigeria. The analysis reveals an upsurge in prisons admissions, and a high proportion of detainees and inmates remanded pending trial. High rates of custodial morbidity, mortality and overcrowding, poor health care, and inadequate nutrition and food prevail in Nigerian prisons. The rate of execution increased between 1984 and 1990 under the Buhari and Babangida military regimes. Nigeria needs to deliberately adopt socioeconomic and political policies that help to prevent crimes and enhance the correction of offenders-instead of the current preoccupation with repressive policing and cruel and unusual punishments within the nation's prisons.
8Â citations
TL;DR: A contemporary juvenile awareness program operated behind bars of a typical state prison by veteran inmates is shown to have very positive social and psychological effects on inmate counselors, even though the program was designed solely to focus on the problems of juvenile offenders as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: A contemporary juvenile awareness program operated behind bars of a typical state prison by veteran inmates is shown to have very positive social and psychological effects on inmate counselors, even though the program was designed solely to focus on the problems of juvenile offenders. The primary benefit to inmate counselors is increased self-esteem, but residual benefits also include increased social status and prestige in the prison. This research also suggests that the inmate counselors become nurturing in their relationships with their youth clients, and with fellow inmates.
8Â citations
TL;DR: The experience of conducting group therapy with different groups in a state prison's Special Management Unit (SMU) for the mentally and emotionally ill offenders has provided a definite challenge as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The experience of conducting group therapy with different groups in a state prison's Special Management Unit (SMU) for the mentally and emotionally ill offenders has provided a definite challenge. The challenge comes from two sources: (1) the setting, and (2) the difficult, complex, and dual-diagnosed members of the groups. The latter aspect has been detailed in the body of this article. Although the results have been meager, on balance, there is a potential for this demanding and necessary type of professional task.
TL;DR: Although violence in psychiatric hospital wards is of increasing concern, homicide is a rare event, among the exceptions is a chronic schizophrenic patient, who murdered a fellow demented inpatient.
Abstract: Although violence in psychiatric hospital wards is of increasing concern, homicide is a rare event. Among the exceptions is a chronic schizophrenic patient, who murdered a fellow demented inpatient. Overcrowding, staff organization, and poor compliance with therapy are among the known risk factors for violence occurring in this case. A further precipitating circumstance was a period of legal uncertainty in Italy owing to a change in the law.
TL;DR: The criminal activities of some Nigerians have been the focus of law enforcement efforts on several continents, including Africa, Asia, and North America as discussed by the authors, and the activities of Nigerian crime networks in the United States.
Abstract: This article discusses a relatively new phenomenon in international organized crime, Nigerian crime networks. The criminal activities of some Nigerians have been the focus of law enforcement efforts on several continents, including Africa, Asia, and North America. Within the international community, heroin smuggling andfraud have been the primary crimes of concern. This article describes the activities of Nigerian crime networks in the United States. The second portion of the paper, relying primarily on the academic writings of Nigerian scholars, suggests some etiological origins of these activities. Finally, the article offers suggestions on how to deal with this emerging problem.
TL;DR: In this article, a typology of substance-abusing offenders derived from application of multivariate statistical algorithms is described, and recommendations as to the components of treatment required to address the needs of each group are provided.
Abstract: Despite the high prevalence of substance abuse problems in incarcerated offenders, the development and evaluation of treatment programs for the group is very rudimentary and lags behind current thinking and research activities in the substance abuse field. Alcohol and drug abuse are increasingly considered to be myriad collections of various clinical conditions. Emerging multivariate models have indicated the need to identify homogeneous subgroups of abusers in order to match them to appropriate treatment. This article describes a typology of substance-abusing offenders derived from application of multivariate statistical algorithms. Five types of substance abusing offenders are described, and recommendations as to the components of treatment required to address the needs of each group are provided.
TL;DR: In a cross-cultural comparison of the subjects on the six TSCS empirical scales, both groups present indications of significantly more psychopathology on five of the six scales than nondelinquents as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (TSCS) was administered to 223 United States and 180 English institutionalized juvenile offenders. In a crosscultural comparison of the subjects on the six TSCS empirical scales, both groups present indications of significantly more psychopathology on five of the six scales than nondelinquents. When the two groups are contrasted, the U.S. group is found to score significantly higher, overall, in psychopathology than the English delinquents. Discriminant function analysis identified two of the six empirical psychopathology scales, Personal Integration and Personality Disorder, capable of distinguishing the subjects by country. Analyses of the data suggest that recent-past and current conservative policies governing official responses to youth crime fail because they tend to address delinquency as if the underlying causes are constitutional. Rather, this data suggest that the differences found between the two groups are cultural in nature.
TL;DR: In this paper, the viability of the MMPI item pool for the purpose of constructing a scale to identify and assess the characteristics of incest perpetrators was empirically tested using the contrasted groups or external criterion method.
Abstract: The viability of the MMPI item pool for the purpose of constructing a scale to identify and assess the characteristics of incest perpetrators was empirically tested using the contrasted groups or external criterion method. All 566 MMPI items were empirically contrasted through an item selection procedure known as "Validation Generalization," which minimized Type I selection errors. Subjects included 89 male incest perpetrators and 81 male mental health outpatients who had no known history of psychosexual disorder. Out of an initial pool of 81 significant MMPI items, six items were selected that reliably discriminated between the criterion and contrast groups at the .05 level. Only one of these six items was directly indicative of sexual deviance. The obtained number of significant MMPI items was insufficient for inventory scale construction. It was concluded that these findings do not support the utility of the MMPI item pool in making prepetrator identifications in outpatient settings.
TL;DR: This paper found that minority and low-income students are actually less deviant than their more affluent, white classmates, at least in regard to acts of "lowconsensus deviance." These are acts that pertain to traditional morality, including sexual activity, alcohol consumption and drug usage.
Abstract: Much sociological literature, both past and present, supports the status quo position that minorities and the poor are responsible for much, if not most, crime and delinquency. Data are presented from a survey of 1,035 students at a large Western university, which suggest that members of minority and low-income groups are actually less deviant than their more affluent, white classmates, at least in regard to acts of "low-consensus deviance." These are acts that pertain to traditional morality, including sexual activity, alcohol consumption, and drug usage. It is suggested that minorities and the poor traditionally are found to be more deviant than the less poor white majority because of the "criminalizing" or crime-inducing effect of law enforcement to which the underclass is disproportionately exposed. Further, it is proposed that formal exposure to law enforcement is a better predictor of serious deviance than either race or income.
TL;DR: The results indicate that outpatient substance abuse treatment can be an appropriate intervention for at least a portion of the DUI offender population, and may be a viable and vital component in an integrated policy on drunken driving.
Abstract: This study compared 538 male outpatients who were court-referred into chemical dependency treatment and had a Driving-Under-the-Influence (DUI) offense to 790 nonoffender male outpatients. DUI arrestees tended to be younger, more likely to complete treatment, have greater legal involvement, and have a more episodic and social chemical use pattern. DUI offenders were similar to other outpatients in demonstrating significant symptoms of dependency. One-year follow-up results on 199 DUI and 368 non-DUI offenders who had successfully completed treatment and been contacted revealed that the two groups were comparable in areas of reported abstinence, legal involvement, vocational functioning, and medical care utilization; AA attendance was significantly higher among DUI arrestees. The results indicate that outpatient substance abuse treatment can be an appropriate intervention for at least a portion of the DUI offender population, and may be a viable and vital component in an integrated policy on drunken driving.
TL;DR: In this paper, a criminal rape trial in which neither the male nor the female claimed any memory of the sex act was analyzed, and the acquittal was apparently based on the jury's belief that both the female and the male were conscious during intercourse, but were unable to recall the act due to alcohol-induced blackouts.
Abstract: This article analyzes a criminal rape trial in which neither the male nor the female claimed any memory of the sex act. Afterward, the female and the prosecution contended that under such circumstances, a rape had occurred on the theory that the female was unconscious. The male denied any memory of the sex act, even under hypnosis, and was found not guilty. The acquittal was apparently based on the jury's belief that both the female and the male were conscious during intercourse but were unable to recall the sex act due to alcohol-induced blackouts. Conclusion: In assessing potential criminal liability for participation in sexual intercourse between intoxicated persons lacking memory of the incident, and in the absence of evidence of force, the government should carefully avoid holding either participant to a higher level of legal responsibility than the other for such intercourse. Seldom is prosecution warranted under such circumstances.
TL;DR: Patient reports to staff concerning unit members' alleged transgressions were employed to monitor and predict the escalation of dangerous behavior by patients within an inpatient population containing both Axis I and Axis II patients.
Abstract: This study describes a practical approach to the successful prediction of threatening behavior by psychopathic patients within an inpatient setting. Patient reports to staff concerning unit members' alleged transgressions were employed to monitor and predict the escalation of dangerous behavior by patients within an inpatient population containing both Axis I and Axis II patients. Results demonstrated that only the psychopaths (a subset of Axis II patients) within the patient population participated in the process of making such reports to the staff. Similarly, the subjects of those reports were also only other psychopaths (and staff, collectively). The successful forecasting of the potentially dangerous events led both to minimal overreactions by staff and to effective management and treatment interventions with the patients.
TL;DR: In this article, the history and structure of a Special Management Unit (SMU) within a state prison is described and an attempt is made to indicate the theory and therapy provided -both psychiatric and psychological - for this particular group of offenders.
Abstract: These articles describe the history and structure of a Special Management Unit (SMU) within a state prison. An attempt is made to indicate the theory and therapy provided - both psychiatric and psychological - for this particular group of offenders.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss some of the important ethical issues confronting the field of probation, focusing on the potential conflicts that arise from the two major roles that traditionally are assigned to probation officers: that of helping agent and that of enforcer of legal conditions.
Abstract: The present paper is an attempt to discuss some of the important ethical issues confronting the field of probation. Special attention is focussed on the potential conflicts that arise from the two major roles that traditionally are assigned to probation officers: that of helping agent, and that of enforcer of legal conditions. Other ethical problems arise from the pressures placed on the probation officer as a result of the organizational structure of a given department and the level of government in which it is located. Those located on the national level must deal with ethical issues that differ from those on the state level, which in turn are different from those found on the local levels.In addition, the influence of contemporary conditions on daily decisions made by probation officers raise important ethical considerations. Such factors as lack of adequate resources in a period of recession, the increased incidence of violent offenders in the population of probationers, and caseloads that prohibit ad...
TL;DR: In this article, a basic, fundamental climate of anti-violence might begin to take root, since members of religion are everywhere throughout society, and since they have a history beginning with mankind, they need to proclaim the values of morality, ethics, spirituality and social responsibility.
Abstract: Violence has a history beginning with mankind. The study of violence indicates periodic peaks of violence. Our present time clearly suggests that violence is widespread and seemingly uncontrollable. One potential source of help is that of religion. The clergy needs to proclaim the values of morality, ethics, spirituality, and social responsibility. Since members of religion are everywhere throughout society, a basic, fundamental climate of anti-violence might begin to take root.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors introduce the reader to the British penal reform movement and identify the need for and kinds of incarcerative reform, and the process of penal reform in England.
Abstract: Using data gathered in interviews with members of the British penal reform lobby and the Prison Service, observations in Her Majesty's Prisons, and a review of the literature, the author introduces the reader to the British penal reform movement. While reforms at the preand post-incarcerative stages are reviewed, the emphasis of the research is on identifying the need for and kinds of incarcerative reform. The process of penal reform in England is outlined and barriers to change are identified.
TL;DR: An instrument that is clinically useful for assessment of risk factors among chemically dependent populations in an outpatient forensic setting is reliable, both across time and internally, and demonstrates a high degree of user acceptance.
Abstract: This study examines the reliability and validity of an instrument that is clinically useful for assessment of risk factors among chemically dependent populations in an outpatient forensic setting. It is reliable, both across time and internally, and demonstrates a high degree of user acceptance. There is good agreement between client scores and independent assessment of the same characteristics. Continued examination of the measure's ability to differentiate between forensic populations and substance abuse populations is needed.
TL;DR: In this article, a psychiatrist's clinical work over 20 months in the Oregon Department of Corrections Special Management Unit (SMU) for adult male criminal offenders is described, including a description of the population served, inmates' presenting problems, the evaluation process, final diagnoses, and the disposition and treatment decision process.
Abstract: This article presents a psychiatrist's clinical work over 20 months in the Oregon Department of Corrections Special Management Unit (SMU) for adult male criminal offenders. Included is a description of the population served, inmates' presenting problems, the evaluation process, final diagnoses, and the disposition and treatment decision process. This article concludes with a selected discussion of the mental disorders encountered, as well as the author's impressions of his prison work from his perspective as a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist.