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Criminal Offenders

A Study of Mental Health Problems in Criminals in Terms of Depression, Anxiety and Stress

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Abstract

Offenders resides in prison faces many problems. Isolation from the families, overcrowding in prison, guilt, and stigmatization are main causes of deterioration in mental health of prisoners. Present study intends to assess mental health problem in two groups of convicted criminals: murderers and rapists in terms of depression anxiety and stress. Based on purposive sampling technique, 72 convicted criminals were selected from Birsa Munda Central Jail Hotwar, Ranchi, India. Both the groups of criminals were matched on various socio-demographic parameters such as: gender, age, education, religion, marital status, residence and occupation. All participants were assessed on Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS). Obtained responses were scored by using standard scoring procedures and subsequently statistically analyzed by using Chi-square test. In present study rapists group have shown significant difference on scale of depression in comparison to murderer’s group. Whereas there were no significant differences found between both the groups on level of anxiety and stress. Mental health problems were found...

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Psychological and Behavioral Effects of Bias and Non-Bias Motivated Assault, Final Report

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ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to determine if measurable differences exist in the psychological and behavioral sequelae of individuals who have experienced an aggravated assault differentiated by the offender motive (i.e., bias or non-bias). Obtaining more reliable information in this area would support the development of more informed law and policy relative to the extra-detrimental effects a specific type of criminal offense may have on citizens. The research was based on police department criminal incident reports, probation records and victim surveys. Records were collected and analyzed for victims of aggravated assaults in Boston during the 1992- 1997 period. The sample of 560 bias-motivated assault victims and 544 non-bias assault victims yielded 136 valid surveys. Sixteen psychological and 12 behavioral indicators were examined while controlling for the effects of 7 independent aspects between the two victim groups (i.e., bias vs. non bias motivated, s/e factors, medical treatment, family support, quality of police

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Symbolic, Relational, and Ideological Signifiers of Bias-Motivated Offenders: Toward a Strategy of Assessment

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Hate crimes constitute a special class of violence. In the United States, since the enactment of federal hate crime laws in 1990, bias-motivated crimes have garnered national attention. Although social psychological research concerning hate crimes has provided insight into the factors that lead to intergroup violence (Ehrlich, 1992; Green, Glaser, & Rich, 1998; Herek, Gillis, Cogan, & Glunt, 1996), information concerning individual difference variables of bias offenders is to date unavailable. There is significant debate about whether an offender’s bias motivation can be reliably identified (Sullaway, in press). This has led some theorists to argue for the repeal of hate crime laws altogether (Jacobs & Potter, 1998). The successful prosecution of the bias-motivated offender requires that there is a discernible behavioral and volitional component present in the offense. This is essential if the offense is to meet the standard of legal intent, as defined under state and federal laws (Levin, 1999). Determining the validity of the bias motivation is compromised by the

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Understanding the Female Offender

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Summary

Although boys engage in more delinquent and criminal acts than do girls, female delinquency is on the rise. In 1980, boys were four times as likely as girls to be arrested; today they are only twice as likely to be arrested. In this article, Elizabeth Cauffman explores how the juvenile justice system is and should be responding to the adolescent female offender. Cauffman begins by reviewing historical trends in arrest rates, processing, and juvenile justice system experiences of female offenders. She also describes the adult outcomes commonly observed for female offenders and points out that the long-term consequences of offending for females are often more pronounced than those for males, with effects that extend to the next generation. She also considers common patterns of offending in girls, as well as factors that may increase or decrease the likelihood of offending. She then reviews what is known about effective treatment strategies for female offenders.

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An Attribute Approach to Relationships between Offenders and Victims in Homicide

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I. INTRODUCTION

The relationship between the victim and the offender is an important variable in studies of personal violence because it places the event within the context of social structures. Roles such as husband, wife, friend, lover, and stranger are complex social relationships which may delineate homicides that share a distinctive etiology. Furthermore, the moral and legal responses to violence are, to a large extent, determined by the social roles of the victim and offender. Although most studies of personal violence collect information on victim-offender relationships, the literature contains little conceptual guidance and almost no methodological research on the measurement issues. Researchers typically report results as though the distinctions between concepts such as "primary" and "secondary" or "stranger" and "non-stranger" are simple and self-evident.

In practice, however, the classifications are based on complex decisions made by coders working with police documents which frequently contain contradictory testimony and spotty information about victim-offender relationships.

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Escalating Prejudice: A Behavioral Analysis of Bias-Motivated Homicide Crime Scenes in the United States (1991-2001)

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Abstract:

While an impressive body of research mostly focusing on descriptions of victims and offenders has developed around bias crime since official data collection began in 1991, little is known about the situational and behavioral dynamics that are involved in bias homicides. The purpose of this research is to analyze bias-motivated homicides using multidimensional scaling techniques to examine the behavioral characteristics of crime scenes for information that could be used to link offenders to crime scene behaviors and create a meaningful classification system for bias homicides. The data for this research represent all of the bias homicides reported to the UCR program in the ten years (1991-2001) following the passage of the Hate Crime Statistics Act (HCSA) of 1990. The case files of the bias homicides were coded to analyze the co-occurrences of behaviors and demographics for the presence of behavioral themes. These themes will be used to establish...

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