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Despite growing interest in psychopathic personality features in juvenile offenders, few studies have examined the relationship between childhood trauma and psychopathy. The present study utilized two datasets: 253 adolescents in a residential facility for juvenile offenders in Pennsylvania and 723 institutionalized delinquents in Missouri. Zero-order correlations and linear regression techniques were employed for boys and girls to examine the relationships between trauma, assessed using the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument Version 2 (MAYSI-2) Traumatic Experiences Scale and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), and psychopathy as measured by the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI) and the Psychopathic Personality Inventory–Short Form (PPI-SF). Results indicate that psychopathy is significantly correlated with childhood trauma. For the Missouri data, trauma significantly predicted psychopathy scores for both boys and girls. These results suggest that nuanced understanding of traumatic history of these adolescents may not only be a pathway to psychopathy but also a critical part of their overall assessment and treatment plan.

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.

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.

Self-Report Delinquency scales have formed the basis of much understanding of juvenile delinquency today, but further improvement and extensive measurement research on self-report measures of crime...

Although energy is the currency of all life forms and energy is an underlying factor for physical and mental performance, its role in antisocial behavior has yet to be articulated. In this paper, we consider the role of energy in shaping antisocial and criminal careers and suggest that much like other forms of performance/productivity some criminal offenders are more energetic and therefore more virulent than others over the life-course. Specifically, we argue that energy is an enhancement and attenuator to an antisocial career and draw upon a diverse literature merging basic research on aging and energy production in human physiology and merge these findings with principles from the career criminal paradigm in criminology. Finally, we lay forth a set of research pathways, especially ways in which energy can be assessed, that can forge stronger links between the science of energetics and criminality.

Purpose That psychopathy imposes substantial societal costs and economic burden is axiomatic, but monetization studies have overlooked cost estimates of the disorder. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on a near census of institutionalized delinquents from Missouri, the current study devised new crime cost measures for self-reported offending. Findings Youth imposed $30 million in total costs annually in large part due to extensive involvement in robbery, theft, and assault. The most criminally active youth imposed costs in excess of $700 million. Psychopathy features were differentially correlated with crime costs. APSD-SR callous-unemotional traits, mPPI-SF Blame Externalization, mPPI-SF Machiavellian Egocentricity, and mPPI-SF Social Potency were significantly associated with between four and five crime costs. Psychopathic traits associated with ruthless self-interest, callousness, and expectations to control and dominate others manifest in diverse ways including serious violence and repeated property crime. Other features such as mPPI-SF Impulsive Nonconformity, mPPI-SF Stress Immunity, mPPI-SF Coldheartedness, mPPI-SF Carefree Nonplanfulness, mPPI-SF Fearlessness, APSD-SR Impulsivity, and APSD-SR Narcissism had limited associations with crime costs. Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first monetization study to quantify the effects of assorted psychopathy features on crime costs.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are linked to various conduct and behavior problems within juvenile delinquents, but fewer studies focused on these associations among specific forensic typologies of offending. Utilizing data from 3382 institutionalized delinquents in Texas, logistic regression models indicated multiple associations between ACEs and forensic typologies in both adjusted and unadjusted models, with sexual abuse and physical abuse emerging as the most consistent and robust predictors. Supplemental sensitivity models confirmed the associations between sexual abuse and physical abuse among youth who fit multiple forensic typologies. Models fared poorly at identifying youth who are engaged in fire setting. Implications for total and singular ACEs are discussed, along with how those relate to more clinically meaningful, forensic forms of juvenile delinquency.

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.

The function of correctional institutions is to maintain institutional security and safety, and institutional misconduct undermines that security. Few studies have examined the individuals who pose the greatest threat to institutional security and are responsible for the greatest number of misconduct incidents (i.e., the 99th percentile of misconducts). This study examines youthful offenders incarcerated in Texas state juvenile facilities who engage in the most frequent and most violent misconduct incidents through a series of logistic regression and ROC-AUC models. The findings indicate that younger age, African-American status, gang activity during confinement, being a danger to self, and involvement in multiple forms of treatment evince a higher risk of engaging in the 99th percentile of total and violent misconduct regardless of model specification. Other factors such as commitment offense, adverse childhood experiences, and sex have differential effects depending on whether the 90th or 99th percentile thresholds are considered. Youth in the 90th percentile account for 49% of total misconduct and 50% of violent misconduct. Youth in the 99th percentile account for 11% of total misconduct and 51% of violent misconduct. We discuss implications for policy and practice and the importance of understanding antisocial development of youthful offenders and their institutional maladjustment.

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.

Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED) is a relatively rare psychiatric condition characterized by aggression, explosive outbursts towards people and property, and very poorly regulated emotional an...

Scholars have tested Becker’s master status thesis on criminal justice system outcomes, yet have been unable to disentangle the label from behavioral characteristics. To clarify the effects of labels, we used archival juvenile court data to test Becker’s master status through the effects of gang affiliation on case disposition. Stratified multivariate regression models revealed consistent effects of predictors—mental health needs, offenses per case, felony offense, and pretrial detention—on case referral to juvenile court across the gang-affiliated demarcation. The static effects of legal predictors across the gang demarcation levy questions about the legal consequences of labels.

The current study examines multiple pathways to antisocial behavior involving neurobiologically based measures and indicators of executive functioning in the interest of informing treatment and intervention services for the deepest end juvenile justice placements. Specifically, using a statewide, multiyear sample of over 11,000 male juvenile offenders completing residential commitment placements, we employ structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine whether parental drug, alcohol, and mental health problems have a direct effect on neurocognitive deficits (as measured by formal Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder [ADHD], or formal Conduct Disorder [CD] diagnoses) and temperamental deficits (as measured by effortful control and negative emotionality), which in turn are examined for their direct effects on recidivism. Results show that parental problems were associated with an increased likelihood of formal ADHD diagnosis as well increased negative emotionality among youth. Furthermore, ADHD and temperamental deficits (both effortful control and negative emotionality) were significantly related to continued offending. These findings may be helpful in treatment planning, targeting of intervention, and discussions of primary and secondary prevention efforts.

The current study examines the prevalence and correlates of serious, violent, and chronic offending among female juveniles admitted to juvenile justice residential programs in the state of Florida. Results are based on 3008 female youth who completed juvenile justice residential commitment programs from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2014. Prevalence and correlates of serious, violent, and chronic offending among female youth were examined using logistic regression. Correlates include criminal history, individual, and mental health risk factors as well as temperament constructs. This sample of deep-end female offenders evidenced a serious, violent, and chronic prevalence rate of 27%. Female youth who offended earlier in life, those who were gang-involved, had a history of child welfare involvement, and had conduct disorder or temperament problems are more likely to evidence serious, violent, and chronic offending patterns. Serious, violent, and chronic female offenders represent a unique subset of juvenile offenders, presenting with myriad of mental health, temperamental, and individual risk factors. Large studies, such as the current examination, are needed to adequately understand the risks and correlates of serious, violent, and chronic offending among female delinquent youth.

The association between psychopathic traits and antisociality among females is an important and understudied area of research. Drawing on 377 female adolescents (103 se- lected from forensic settings and 274 selected from school set- tings) from Portugal, the current study examined the psychomet- ric properties of the Antisocial Process Screening Device Self- Report (APSD-SR) and Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory - Short version (YPI-S) in female youth populations. When com- paring these two measures the YPI-S revealed clearer results in terms of its three-factor structure and internal consistency, and stronger convergent validity coefficients. The APSD-SR re- vealed problems in terms of its factor structure and internal consistency of its Callous-Unemotional (CU) and Impulsivity dimensions. Convergent validity was demonstrated among these measures and with measures of other facets of the psychopathy construct (CU traits, narcissism) and related constructs (reactive and proactive aggression), and discriminant validity was found with a measure of basic empathy. Expected significant associa- tions were found in terms of criterion-related validity with sev- eral indicators of delinquent careers including age of criminal onset, Conduct Disorder (CD), crime seriousness, violent crimes, alcohol use, and drug use., This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT; Grant SFRH/BPD/86666/2012) with co-financing of the European Social Fund (POPH/FSE), the Portuguese Ministry of Education and Science, and by FEDER (PT2020 Partnership Agreement; UID/PSI/01662/2013).

Purpose Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are a broad conceptual framework in the social sciences that have only recently been studied within criminology. The purpose of this paper is to utilize this framework by applying it to one of the most potentially dangerous forensic populations. Design/methodology/approach Archival data from 225 federal sex offenders was used to perform descriptive, correlational, and negative binomial regression models. Findings There was substantial evidence of ACEs including father abandonment/neglect (36 percent), physical abuse (nearly 28 percent), verbal/emotional abuse (more than 24 percent), and sexual abuse (approximately 27 percent). The mean age of sexual victimization was 7.6 years with the youngest age of victimization occurring at the age of 3. Offenders averaged nearly five paraphilias, the most common were pedophilia (57 percent), pornography addiction (43 percent), paraphilia not otherwise specified (35 percent), exhibitionism (26 percent), and voyeurism (21 percent). The offenders averaged 4.7 paraphilias and the range was substantial (0 to 19). Negative binomial regression models indicated that sexual sadism was positively and pornography addiction was negatively associated with serious criminal violence. Offenders with early age of arrest onset and more total arrest charges were more likely to perpetrate kidnaping, rape, and murder. Originality/value ACEs are common in the life history of federal sex offenders, but have differential associations with the most serious forms of crime.

This study examines whether changes in dynamic risk during juvenile justice long-term residential placement affect recidivism. Advancing the work of prior dynamic risk change analyses, we examine a large sample of 11,891 male and 1930 female juvenile offenders while taking methodological steps to ensure successful and non-successful youth (in terms of recidivism) are (statistically) identical at admission. Specifically, we employ propensity score matching on residential placement youth who recidivate post-release and non-recidivists on static risk factors and initial dynamic risk scores assessed at admission to residential placement. Post-matching, changes in dynamic risk factors from initial assessment at admission to exit assessment at release are examined with a focus on whether those changes distinguish recidivists from non-recidivists. Separate analyses are conducted for male and female juveniles. Results indicate that changes in dynamic risk do affect recidivism likelihood, but that different factor...

Although juvenile sex offenders (JSOs) are a pressing topic among researchers and juvenile justice practitioners, empirically driven typologies of JSOs using U.S. data are lacking. Here, we develop the first statistical typology of male and female JSOs using data from the United States selected from a sample of 4,143 JSOs referred to the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. Significant predictors of juvenile sex offending (age of criminal onset, criminal history, impulsivity, empathy, depression, psychosis, and childhood sexual abuse) derived from the literature were used as grouping covariates to develop a profile of male and female JSOs using a latent class analysis (LCA). Results of the LCA show four unique subtypes of male JSOs and two subtypes of female JSOs exist within the data. These groups had differential compositions for key features such as criminal history and onset, psychopathologies, empathy and impulsivity, and sexual abuse victimization. These differences may be critical toward developing more tailored and effective correctional and treatment responses that balance containment and therapeutic approaches depending on the individual needs of the JSOs based upon their profile. Other practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

Purpose Most burglaries are property offenses yet some offenders perpetrate burglary for the purpose of violent instrumental crimes. Sexual burglars are distinct from non-sexual burglars because the former seek to rape or sexually abuse victims within the homes they burgle whereas the latter seek theft and material gain. It is unclear to what degree burglars who are armed with firearms or knives represent a type of sexual burglar, or perhaps a more severe type of offender who enters homes not merely to rape a victim, but to perhaps murder them as well. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on data from 790 felons in Florida, t-test and negative binomial regression models were used to compare armed burglars to offenders who were not convicted of armed burglary. Findings Compared to offenders not convicted of armed burglary, armed burglars were involved in significantly more instrumental crimes of violence including first-degree murder, kidnapping, armed rape, armed robbery and assault with intent to murder. Armed burglary may be a marker of extreme instrumental violent offending and warrants further study. Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge, this is among the first studies of armed burglary offenders and adds understanding to the heterogeneity of burglary offenders and their criminal careers.

Purpose Sexual sadism is a well-known risk factor for severe forms of sexual violence including sexual homicide and serial sexual homicide. The research is decidedly mixed about the association between sexual sadism and other, nonsexual forms of criminal conduct. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on data from a census of 225 federal sex offenders from a jurisdiction in the Midwestern USA, the current study examined whether sexual sadism had a spillover effect into nonsexual crimes using correlation, ANOVA, and negative binomial regression models. Findings Sexual sadism was strongly associated with diverse forms of nonsexual criminal behavior, and sexual sadists had more extensive and versatile criminal careers than sex offenders without a formal diagnosis. Practical implications Practitioners should be aware of sexual sadism as a criminogenic risk factor. Sexual sadism is associated with sexual deviance and sexual violence. Sexual sadism also has spillover effects where it is associated with nonsexual offending. Originality/value Sexual sadism can be a useful risk factor for other forms of crime and recidivism and has broad application in applied correctional and research settings.

Although psychopathy construct (SRP-SF) was assessed among various samples, prior research did not investigate whether the model proposed by Hare and colleagues can be used to capture psychopathy scores derived from forensic and non-forensic populations. The main objective of the current study was to test dimensionality, construct validity, and factorial invariance of the SRP-SF within prison (N = 730) and student (N = 2,506) samples. Our results indicate that the SRP-SF measure cannot be used in the same way within forensic and non-forensic samples, which may be due to the inclusion of criminal/antisocial traits as an integral part of psychopathy.

Self-control and psychopathy are prominent general theories of antisociality that, although present a very similar type of individual, have not often been studied in tandem, and few studies have conducted a head-to-head test of their association with serious delinquency and youth violence. Using a near census of institutionalized delinquents from Missouri, the current study found that both low self-control and psychopathy were significantly associated with various forms of delinquency and severe/chronic delinquency as measured by 90th percentile on the distribution. However, low self-control was associated with more forms of delinquency, and victimization and youth with the lowest levels of self-control were at greatest risk for pathological delinquency relative to those with the most psychopathic personality. Both self-control and psychopathy are essential for understanding the most severe variants of delinquency, and more head-to-head tests are encouraged to assess the strength of criminological theories.

Objective To assess the prevalence and behavioral, sociodemographic, and psychiatric/psychological correlates of homicidal ideation among a sample of children and adolescents. Study design We employed descriptive and multivariate logit models of homicidal ideation using data from the 2012-2016 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project. This study was conducted with data from emergency departments in the US, and we used a sample of (N = 17 041 346) children and adolescents between the ages of 5 and 17 years. Results Pediatric homicidal ideation is rare with a prevalence estimate of 0.09%; however, its prevalence increases substantially from age 5 years to age 15 years when it peaks, and then declines through the end of adolescence. Conduct disorders conferred 1483% increased odds, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder conferred 616% increased odds, and other behavioral and emotional disorders increased a 2-fold to nearly 4-fold increased liability for homicidal ideation net the effects of sex, age, urban residence, insurance status, and zip code median household income. Conclusion In the wake of homicide tragedies, it is often the case that numerous behavioral and clinical red flags were present in the developmental history of the perpetrator, but these were overlooked. Identifying children and adolescents who present with homicidal ideation is a crucial pediatric and public health matter that can inform prevention and behavioral interventions that forestall lethal violence.

A large body of research has examined the relationship between victimization and future offending, with results suggesting that crime victims are at higher risk of future criminal behavior-known as the victim-offender overlap. Prior studies have primarily examined the relationship between general victimization (e.g., violent victimization, sexual abuse, and more) and general offending (e.g., violence, sexual offending, and drug use), and focused on adult populations.The goal of the present study is to expand on prior literature by examining if specific forms of childhood victimization increase the risk of specific and analogous forms of offending among delinquent youth.Based upon a population of 64,329 high-risk youth offenders in Florida, this study evaluates the specificity of the overlap among youth who were physically abused, sexually abused, or witnessed illegal substance use at home during childhood to determine if these forms of victimization increased the risk of violence, sexual offending, and drug use, respectively, when assessed in multivariate logistic regression models.Results provide considerable support for specificity in the victim-offender overlap, as hypothesized. Specifically, experiencing physical abuse (OR = 1.55, p .001), sexual abuse (OR = 3.58, p .001) and witnessing household substance abuse (OR = 1.66, p .001) in childhood each significantly and substantially increased the risk of analogous criminal behavior in adolescence, even when controlling for other risk factors and forms of victimization.This study provided novel evidence for specificity in the victim-offender overlap, even after controlling for confounding variables. Practical implications for early intervention and crime prevention are discussed, as well as implications for future research. Highlighting the importance of specificity in the victimization and adverse childhood experience (ACE) paradigms.

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

Self-control refers to the ability to override impulses and behave in accordance with societal norms, and deficits in self-control are strongly associated with conduct problems, externalizing disorders, crime, and violence. Here, we exam- ine the psychometric properties of the Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCS) and its refined version (BSCS-R) among a forensic sample (n = 131) of incarcerated male youth and a school sample of male (n = 257) and female (n = 213) youth from Portugal. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the original one-factor structure of the BSCS and the refined two-factor structure of the BSCS-R obtained adequate fits. The BSCS demonstrated strong measurement invariance across gender and setting (forensic versus school), while the BSCS-R only revealed gender measurement invariance. The BSCS also tended to perform better that the BSCS-R in terms of other psychometric properties, including internal consistency measured by Alpha and Omega coefficients, discriminant and convergent validities, criterion validity, and known-groups validity. Findings support the use of the BSCS among justice-involved and community youth, but caution is advised regarding the use of its refined version in forensic settings., This study was partially conducted at the Psychology Research Centre (PSI/01662), School of Psychology, University of Minho, and supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, and the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education (UID/PSI/01662/2019), through national funds (PIDDAC).

Personality features are importantly related to numerous behavioral dimensions including prosocial and antisocial behavior. The current chapter reviews the associations between Agreeableness/Antagonism and various forms of antisocial behavior as well as associations between Agreeableness/Antagonism and adjustment to the criminal justice system. Several hypotheses and avenues for future research are offered to evaluate the role of Agreeableness in relating to police officers, judicial officers, and correctional staff. Although criminology has historically failed to incorporate personality factors into explanatory models of offender conduct and criminal justice system compliance, it is suggested that the use of personality features specifically Agreeableness is helpful for understanding differential adaptations to the justice system.

Trauma exposure and low self-control are robustly associated with youth antisocial/criminal problems, but the interrelation of these constructs is unclear when taking into account both traumatic events and reactions. The objective of the present study is to examine self-control mediation effects related to trauma and juvenile delinquency, conduct disorder, crime seriousness, and aggression outcomes. The sample consisted of N = 388 male youth from Portugal (age, M = 16.01 years, SD = 1.03, age range = 13–18 years). Path analysis procedures revealed that self-control partially mediates the relation between trauma events and the examined outcomes and fully mediates the relation between trauma reactions and the examined outcomes. Research on youth trauma should examine both trauma events and trauma reactions because they have differential effects on low self-control and antisocial/criminal outcomes., This study was partially conducted at the Psychology Research Centre (PSI/01662) of the University of Minho. The first author was partially funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education (UID/PSI/01662/2019).

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.

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.

BACKGROUND: There is a view that young people presenting with an animal cruelty and firesetting combination represent a uniquely risky group, but prior work has relied on samples with insufficient power. RESEARCH QUESTION: What is the prevalence of the co-occurrence of animal cruelty and firesetting behaviour among young delinquents? What other features correlate with this? METHODS: We measured the prevalence of animal cruelty and firesetting among 292,649 juvenile offenders and used rare events logistic regression to examine demographic, criminal, mental health and family histories as correlates. RESULTS: The prevalence of animal cruelty was 0.59%, accounting for 1732 young people, and of firesetting 1.56% (n = 4553). The co-occurrence of these behaviours was rare: 0.17% (n = 498), but approximately twice that expected by chance based on the prevalence of each behaviour individually (0.59% × 1.56% = 0.009%). Rates were higher in males, older youths and Whites. Among historical variables, criminal history was the strongest correlate, followed by mental health problems, then familial and individual indicators. CONCLUSIONS: As only male gender and being a victim of sexual abuse increased the odds of evidencing both animal cruelty and firesetting behaviour substantially above the odds for each behaviour individually, there thus appears to be little that is unique to the co-occurrence. Our findings suggest that sensitivity to the occurrence of each is the best way forward, with rather familiar assessments and interventions offering some hope of reducing these seriously damaging behaviours. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Language: en

Purpose: The aim of this study was to create and validate a brief self-report scale of psychopathic personality traits for research purposes which would grasp the essence of a psychopathic personality, regardless of respondents’ age, gender, cultural background, and criminal history.\ud \ud Methods: The Psychopathic Personality Traits Scale (PPTS), The Measure of Criminal Social Identity, Self-Esteem Measure for Criminals, The Child Sexual Abuse Myth Scale, Attitudes Towards Male Sexual Dating Violence, and Lie Scale were administered to 1,794 prisoners systematically sampled from 10 maximum- and medium-security prisons. Dimensionality and construct validity of the PPTS was investigated using traditional CFA techniques, along with confirmatory bifactor analysis and multitrait-multimethod modelling (MTMM). Seven alternative models of the PPTS were specified and tested using Mplus with WLSMV estimation.\ud \ud Results: MTMM model of PPTS offered the best representation of the data. The results suggest that the PPTS consists of four subscales (affective responsiveness, cognitive responsiveness, interpersonal manipulation, and egocentricity) while controlling for two method factors (knowledge/skills and attitudes/beliefs). Good composite reliability and differential predictive validity was observed.\ud \ud Conclusion: This brief measure of psychopathic traits uncontaminated with behavioural items can be used in the same way among participants with and without criminal history.

This study examines the effect of negative emotionality, effortful control, and community disadvantage on juvenile recidivism. Using DeLisi and Vaughn’s temperament theory as a foundation, we assess whether youth who have temperament issues and those who live in disadvantaged communities are more likely to recidivate. Findings indicate that net of a wide array of known risk factors, youth with poor temperaments, and those living in disadvantaged communities are more likely to reoffend. Additionally, those youth who face a triple threat of temperament issues and disadvantage reoffend faster post-completion. The theoretical and policy implications of these findings are discussed.

Despite a wealth of research finding that adolescents who carry handguns are involved in risky behaviors, there has been little exploration into the heterogeneity of this behavior. Using a pooled sample of 12- to 17-year-olds from the National Study on Drug Use and Health who report past-year handgun carrying ( N = 7,872), this study identified four subgroups of handgun carriers: low risk ( n = 3,831; 47.93%), alcohol and marijuana users ( n = 1,591; 20.16%), fighters ( n = 1,430; 19.40%), and severe externalizers ( n = 1,020, 12.51%). These subgroups differed on demographic, behavioral, and psychosocial characteristics. Findings are discussed in light of prevention and focused deterrence.

Technological advances have enabled criminal justice organizations to collect and share offender data. Accompanying these advances are concerns about how various segments of the criminal justice system utilize these data. Specifically, scholars have expressed concerns about the legal consequences of being included in gang databases. This study explored the use of gang affiliation indicators on prosecutorial outcomes by using a sample of 5,111 urban juvenile cases. Using three binary measures of gang affiliation, multinomial logistic regression analysis suggested indicators of gang affiliation influenced prosecutorial outcomes (dismissal, pre-adjudication informal supervision, deferred prosecution, or petition), but in an unanticipated manner. Confirmed gang affiliates, instead of suspected or non-gang affiliates, were significantly more likely to experience pre-adjudication informal supervision over other forms of case outcomes: case dismissal, deferred prosecution, or court petition. Policy implications focus on the inter-connectedness of the criminal justice system.

Purpose To synthesize results from major prospective longitudinal studies that investigated the extent to which intelligence may function as a protective factor against offending and violence. Methods Results are based on systematic searches of the literature across 18 databases. Papers are included in the meta-analyses if results are based on longitudinal data. Results Fifteen longitudinal studies investigate the extent to which an above-average intelligence may function as a protective factor. Meta-analytic results of studies on interactive protective factors suggest that a higher level of intelligence is a factor which can predict low levels of offending differentially within the high-risk (random effects model OR = 2.32; 95% CI: 1.49 – 3.63; p = 0.0001) and the low-risk (random effects model OR = 1.33; 95% CI: 0.88 – 2.01; p = 0.18) groups. A high intelligence level is differentially protective against offending within different levels of risk. In agreement with an interaction effect, the high-risk and low-risk effect sizes were significantly different (mixed effects meta-regression: point estimate = 0.509; SE = 0.175; p = 0.004). Meta-analytic synthesis of studies that looked at risk-based protective factors (i.e. analyses based only on high-risk individuals) is also presented and results are consistent with initial hypotheses. Conclusions This methodological demonstration paper confirms the variability in conceptualizations, theoretical approaches and methodological strategies used to investigate the protective effects of intelligence against offending. Intelligence can function as a protective factor for offending. Implications for policy and practice are highlighted.

Recently, DeLisi and Vaughn articulated a temperament-based theory of antisocial behavior which they expressed as the first within criminology to use temperament explicitly, and as the exclusive explanatory construct of both antisocial behavior and negative interactions with the criminal justice system. We provide an initial empirical test of the theory’s two main constructs of effortful control (EC) and negative emotionality (NE) with respect to juvenile offending using a sample of 27,712 adjudicated youth. Cox regressions reveal youth with lower levels of EC and those with higher NE re-offend faster, controlling for demographics plus many prominent risk factors. Furthermore, the approximately 5% of youth at the extreme ends of both low EC and high NE evidence higher recidivism rates and faster time to failure. The findings show strong initial support for temperament theory, and we discuss relevancy for future research, prevention and intervention.

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine the dark figure of crime among federal sex offenders from the USA to quantify crime victims and sex crime events among those with no official criminal record.Design/methodology/approach– Using data on 119 offenders selected from a five-year census of sex offenders selected from a federal probation jurisdiction in the Midwestern United States, descriptive, partial correlations, and ROC-AUC models were conducted.Findings– In total, 69 percent of offenders self-reported a contact sexual offense during polygraph examination. In total, 34 offenders had zero official record of sexual abuse but non-zero self-reported history of sexual abuse. These 34 clients offended against 148 victims that potentially denoted a minimum number of 148 sex crime events, a median number of 1,480 sex crime events, a mean number of 32,101 sex crime events, and a maximum number of 827,552 sex crime events. Total paraphilias were not predictive of self-reported sexual offending but were strongly associated with prolific self-reported sexual offending.Originality/value– The dark figure of sexual offending is enormous and the revelation of this information is facilitated by polygraph examination of federal sex offenders. Ostensibly non-contact sex offenders such as those convicted of possession of child pornography are very likely to have a history of contact sexual offending. Consistent with the containment model, polygraph examinations of the sexual history of offenders convicted of sexual offenses should be required to facilitate public safety.

Using two data sets, containing 582 total cases, this study investigates whether classifying offenders on trajectories of risk scores helps predict parolee recidivism. One data set has 4 years of risk scores and another has three. Both data sets contain control variables measuring released inmates’ characteristics. The dependent variable measures arrest or return to prison over a 2-year span. A growth mixture model, classifies offenders into three classes, a stable and high trajectory group, a group with a high but declining risk trajectory, and a small, low-risk group with little change. Trajectory class membership correlates with recidivism in both data sets. Supplementary analyses show that assigned classes are better predictors of recidivism than last risk scores or simple change scores. Discussion centers on the appeal and relevance of trajectories of risk, as opposed to static measures, for predicting offender misconduct and other outcomes.

Studies of homicide offenders that engage in repeat, non-serial homicide offending are scarce and most studies lack comprehensive criminal career data that include convictions for 1st degree murder. Drawing on archival data on 682 male convicted felons from the Florida Department of Corrections, the current study examined the prognostic association between prior 1st degree murder convictions and various specifications of subsequent homicide offending. Negative binomial and logistic regression models found that prior 1st degree murder convictions were significantly associated with current/instant homicide offending and multiple homicide offending despite controls for five forms of serious felony violence, age, and race. Suggestions for future research are proffered regarding the forensic and criminological value of 1st degree murder convictions. Keywords: Homicide, Murder, 1st degree murder, Forensic populations, Criminal career, Violence

In community and correctional settings, gang status is a robust predictor of offending, unfortunately relatively few studies have considered behavioral disorders of offenders and whether these disorders mediate the gang-offending relationship. Drawing on a near population of correctional clients on federal supervised release, negative binomial regression and ROC-AUC models found that gang variables were rendered insignificant or were generally weak classifiers of severe offending once behavioral disorders were specified. The only exception was security threat group status that was robustly associated with prison misconduct. Gang researchers should consider behavioral disorders and other psychopathology of gang members to inform theory and research.