Substance misuse and substance use disorders in sex offenders: a review

Substance abuse has often been associated with committing sex offenses. In this article, the following will be reviewed: 1) studies that assessed substance abuse in sex offenders; 2) differences in substance abuse among different types of sex offenders; 3) differences in substance abuse between sex offenders and nonsexual offenders and substance abuse in the normal population; 4) sex offenders’ intoxication at the time of the offense; and 5) differences in intoxication at the time of the offense among different types of sex offenders. Studies will be discussed according to the method they used to assess substance abuse, i.e., file research, screening instruments or semi-structured interviews. This review shows that about half of the sex offenders has a history of substance abuse, a quarter to half of the sex offenders has a history of alcohol misuse and that about one fifth to a quarter of the sex offenders has a history of drug misuse. Furthermore, about a quarter to half of the sex offenders appeared to be intoxicated at the time of the offense. The review results in recommendations for future research. Because of the high prevalence of substance abuse in sex offenders it is advisable to routinely screen for substance abuse and, if necessary, to treat substance abuse.     

Spouse abuse recidivism in the U.S. Army by gender and military status

Recidivism by spouse abusers was investigated using records of offenders in the U.S. Army Central Registry. Recidivism by gender and military status (active-duty or civilian spouse) was compared over a 70-month period. Between fiscal years 1989-1997, 48,330 offenders were identified in initial and recidivist incidents. Recidivism was analyzed by means of a Cox proportional hazard rate model, controlling for age, race, number of dependents, education, and substance abuse. Two different sets of survival curves were obtained: (a) Men were much more likely than women to have a recurrence and (b) within gender, civilians were more likely to have a recurrence than were active-duty military personnel. At 70 months, 30% of the male civilian offenders and 27% of the male active-duty offenders had committed a subsequent spouse abuse incident compared with 20% of the female civilian offenders and 18% of the female active-duty offenders, controlling for other variables.     

The criminal sentiments scale: Predictive validity in a sample of violent and sex offenders

This study investigated the predictive validity of the Criminal Sentiments Scale (CSS; Gendreau, Grant, Leipciger, & Collins, 1979) within a sample of violent and sex offenders using conviction and failure on conditional release as the criterion variables. The CSS was completed by 130 male offenders (65 sex offenders and 65 violent offenders) commencing a sentence of greater than two years in a Canadian federal institution. Average time at risk for the sample was 16 months. Arrest and conviction rates for violent offenders and sex offenders were 24.6% and 13.8% respectively, overall failure on release resulting in reincarceration was 41.5% and 18.5% respectively. The results showed no relationship between the CSS and recidivism or release failure. Implications for clinical use among this population of offenders are discussed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Psychol 53 : 399–404, 1997.     

男性少年暴力罪犯心理防御机制分析

目的 :探讨男性少年暴力罪犯的心理防御机制的特征 ,为少年犯罪的预防和干预策略提供理论参考依据。方法 :随机抽取 88名少年管教所的男性少年暴力罪犯与 3 3名的中专二年级男性学生进行“防御方式问卷”调查。结果 :两组应用最多的都是成熟防御机制 ,但不成熟防御机制 (D1 )、中间型防御机制(D3)、掩饰因子 (D4 )评分有显著性差异 ,D1、D3的多个项目评分也有显著性差异。结论 :与一般同龄群体相比 ,少年暴力罪犯较多使用不成熟型、中间型防御机制 ,提示少年暴力罪犯心理健康水平不及同龄群体 ,应付挫折和应激的方式和能力达不到社会的要求     

Divalproex sodium in sex offenders with bipolar disorders and comorbid paraphilias: an open retrospective study

BACKGROUND: This study evaluated divalproex response in sex offenders with a bipolar disorder. METHODS: We reviewed the records of all sex offenders who participated in a residential rehabilitative program who received divalproex for treatment of a bipolar disorder. Patients' mood symptoms and, when present, comorbid paraphilic symptoms, were retrospectively assessed using the CGI severity scale. RESULTS: Sex offenders displayed significant improvement in manic symptoms with divalproex treatment. However, there was no significant improvement in paraphilic symptoms in the subset of patients admitting to these symptoms. CONCLUSION: Divalproex may be effective for manic symptoms in sex offenders with a bipolar disorder. However, for bipolar sex offenders with comorbid paraphilias, the drug may not be effective for paraphilic symptoms. LIMITATIONS: This study was limited by its retrospective, open-label design, lack of systematic means of assessing manic and paraphilic symptoms, and small sample size. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Divalproex may be a helpful adjunct in the treatment of the subset of sex offenders who have a bipolar disorder.     

Unresolved grief in young offenders in prison.

The study aimed to pilot a grief awareness programme as a health promotion project for young offenders with complicated grief. Seventeen young offenders in custody at HM Prison, Cardiff were opportunistically recruited, interviewed about their bereavement, and offered entry to the programme. Young offenders who reported coping poorly with bereavement were more likely to have used drugs to cope with their emotions, to have had suicidal thoughts, and reported more depression and anxiety. They were also more likely to have been bereaved in late adolescence and to have lost a first degree relative, with death being sudden, violent or by suicide.     

违法犯罪人员人格特征及心理健康状况调查

采用卡氏１６项人格因素量表和９０项疾病症状清单，对１０５４名违法犯罪人员进行研究。结果表明，与一般成年人相比，犯罪人员存在明显的人格偏离，以及严重的心理问题，很有必要进行心理咨询与辅导工作。     

精神分裂症患者责任能力相关因素分析

Objective: To explore and assess the relative factors of responsibility in schizophrenic patients. Method:A self-developed responsibility rating scale for mental illness was used to assess 286 schizophrenic offenders who were divided into three groups according to the different responsibility level. Results: No realistic motivation, impairment of life ability and impairment of reality testing are main relative factors of responsibility assessment for schizophrenic offenders. Conclusion: It is concluded that responsibility rating scale is more effective than experimental evaluation in the assessment of responsibility for schizophrenic offenders.     

Motivation for behavior change among sex offenders. A review of the literature.

Motivation for behavior change is considered a crucial issue in the treatment of sex offenders. However, there has been no systematic investigation of this issue. The first aim of this review is to draw together the literature related to motivation for behavior change among sex offenders. The second aim is to highlight issues that need to be addressed to facilitate an empirical investigation of motivation for change among sex offenders. It is argued that a better understanding of motivation for change among sex offenders will contribute to enhancing the efficacy of treatment programs for these offenders.     

Psychiatric, demographic and personality characteristics of elderly sex offenders

BACKGROUND: Psychiatric disorders are purported to play a role in the aetiology of violent crime, but evidence for their role in sexual offending is less clear. The authors investigated the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity and personality disorders in elderly incarcerated sex offenders compared with elderly non-sex offenders. METHOD: One hundred and one sex offenders and 102 non-sex offenders aged over 59 years wereinterviewed using standardized semi-structured interviews for psychiatric illness (the Geriatric Mental State) and the personality disorder (Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV personality disorders). Data on demographic, offence and victim characteristics were collected. RESULTS: Six per cent of the elderly sex offenders had a psychotic illness, 7% a DSM-IV major depressive episode and 33% a personality disorder; and 1% had dementia. These prevalence figures were not different from the elderly non-sex offenders interviewed in this study. Differences emerged at the level of personality traits with sex offenders having more schizoid, obsessive-compulsive, and avoidant traits, and fewer antisocial traits compared with non-sex offenders. CONCLUSIONS: Elderly sex offenders and non-sex-offenders have similar prevalence rates of mental illness. However, elderly sex offenders have increased schizoid, obsessive-compulsive, and avoidant personality traits, supporting the view that sex offending in the elderly is associated more with personality factors than mental illness or organic brain disease.     

When a smile becomes a fist: the perception of facial and bodily expressions of emotion in violent offenders

Previous reports have suggested an enhancement of facial expression recognition in women as compared to men. It has also been suggested that men versus women have a greater attentional bias towards angry cues. Research has shown that facial expression recognition impairments and attentional biases towards anger are enhanced in violent criminal male offenders. Bodily expressions of anger form a more direct physical threat as compared to facial expressions. In four experiments, we tested how 29 imprisoned aggressive male offenders perceive body expressions by other males. The performance of all participants in a matching-to-sample task dropped significantly when the distracting image showed an angry posture. Violent offenders misjudged fearful body movements as expressing anger significantly more often than the control group. When violent offenders were asked to categorize facial expressions and ignore the simultaneously presented congruent or incongruent posture, they performed worse than the control group, specifically, when a smile was combined with an aggressive posture. Finally, violent offenders showed a greater congruency effect than controls when viewing postures as part of an emotionally congruent social scene and did not perform above chance when categorizing a happy posture presented in a fight scene. The results suggest that violent offenders have difficulties in processing emotional incongruence when aggressive stimuli are involved and a possible bias towards aggressive body language.     

精神分裂症暴力违法与无违法者MMPI测试比较分析

目的：探讨精神分裂症患者暴力违法的人格特征和精神病理。方法：比较31例司法鉴定诊断为精神分裂症的暴力违法者（被控故意杀人和伤害）与55例无违法记录的精神分裂症住院患者的MMPI量表分。结果：暴力违法的精神分裂症患者MMPI测试的Ha,D,Hy,Pa,Si量表分明显高于无违法者。结论：莫明的心理及躯体痛苦、消极沮丧、情绪化、敏感多疑、不安全感，可能是精神分裂症患者暴力违法的危险因素。     

诈骗犯、暴力犯的黑暗三人格与创造力及标新立异的关系

目的:探讨诈骗犯和暴力犯的黑暗三人格、创造力及标新立异的特点及差异,并探究黑暗三人格对创造性和标新立异的预测作用。方法:在北京市某监狱选取了108名成年男性诈骗犯和142名成年男性暴力犯,施测高夫创造力量表、短式黑暗三联征量表和标新立异量表。结果:(1)两类罪犯的马基雅维利主义、精神病态、自恋、黑暗三人格总分均与标新立异显著正相关(r=0.389,0.616,0.374,0.614;P0.01),马基雅维利主义、自恋、黑暗三人格总分与创造力显著正相关(r=0.151,0.398,0.251;P0.05或P0.01),创造力与标新立异显著正相关(r=0.137,P0.05);(2)回归分析表明,马基雅维利主义、精神病态、自恋显著正向预测标新立异(B=0.192,B=0.775,B=0.297;P0.001),仅自恋因子可以显著正向预测创造力(B=0.347,P0.001);(3)诈骗犯的创造力显著高于暴力犯(t=3.53,P0.001),精神病态(t=-1.86,P=0.064)和标新立异程度(t=-1.75,P=0.087)低于暴力犯,均达到边缘显著水平。结论:黑暗三人格与创造力和标新立异关系密切,不同犯罪类型的罪犯具有不同的人格和特质特点。     

Psychopathology and delinquency in adolescents: a descriptive and developmental perspective

The current article presents a review on psychiatric pathology in delinquent adolescents. The putative developmental significance of this co-occurrence is discussed within Moffitt's [Psychol. Rev. 100 (1993) 674] developmental framework on antisocial behavior. Articles on psychopathology in delinquent adolescents were retrieved through search engines (MEDLINE, Psychlit) and by exploration of references in those articles. Substantial evidence is at hand that delinquent adolescents have higher rates of externalizing and internalizing disorders when compared to adolescents in the general population. Although substantial limitations hamper interpretation of the findings, the marked similarities across a diversity of samples from different countries suggest that the findings are fairly generalizable. Evidence was found for differences in prevalence and developmental significance of psychiatric pathology between adolescent limited (AL) offenders and life-course persistent (LCP) offenders. Although psychopathology was more severe in LCP offenders, AL offenders still had significant and potential harmful levels of psychopathology. These findings emphasize the necessity of developing mental health services to delinquent adolescents and the necessity of adequate diagnostic and therapeutic interventions in these adolescents.     

劳教人员心理矫治前后的对照分析

目的 :提高劳教人员的心理健康水平 ,考察心理矫治的有效性 ;方法 :采用Glasser的现实疗法和Lester的行为矫治 ,对实施心理矫治的 5 9名劳教人员 ,与 83 1名未实施心理矫治的劳教人员 ,用SCL -90进行测试比较对照分析 ;结果 :5 9名劳教人员心矫治后 ,其SCL -90中的躯体化 (t =2 5 7,P <0 0 1)、焦虑 (t=3 88,P <0 0 1)、恐怖 (t=2 61,P <0 0 1)、和精神病性 (t=2 71,P <0 0 1)等因子与矫治前相比差异有显著性 ,与对照组的比较在躯体化 (t =2 45 ,P <0 0 1)、人际关系 (t =2 0 8,P <0 0 5 )、焦虑 (t=2 84,P <0 0 1)、恐怖 (t =2 73 ,P <0 0 1)和精神病性 (t =2 8,P <0 0 1)因子得分降低且差异有显著性。结论 :心理矫治对劳教人员的心理健康水平的提高是有效的 ,但对其人格障碍和犯罪心理结构的矫治则是一个长期而艰巨的工作。     

广东省工读男生孤独感影响因素研究

目的探讨工读男生孤独感的影响因素。方法方便整群抽取195名工读男生做被试,对其进行孤独感量表、自尊量表、应付方式问卷与依恋问卷的测量。结果①差异检验:孤独感在年龄和家庭结构上差异不显著(U=1.676和1.384,P0.05);在年级上差异显著(U=3.328,P0.05);②相关分析:工读男生孤独感与自尊、积极应付方式和朋友亲和性呈显著负相关(相关系数分别为:r=-0.649,P0.05;r=-0.369,P0.01;r=-0.207,P0.01);工读生孤独感与消极应付方式、家庭焦虑性和朋友焦虑性呈显著正相关(相关系数分别为:r=0.149,P0.05;r=0.227,P0.01;r=0.439,P0.01);③回归分析:自尊、依恋和应付方式对孤独感有显著的预测作用,可解释总变异的54%,F(4,190)=53.716,P0.001。结论自尊、依恋和应付方式是工读男生孤独感的影响因素。     

Empirically derived MMPI profile subgroups of incarcerated homicide offenders

Several classification systems have been developed to identify subgroups of criminals. Recently, investigations have attempted to derive empirical classifications of specific types of offenders. The present study investigated the occurrence of MMPI profile subgroups in a sample of incarcerated homicide offenders. One hundred and eighteen convicted male homicide offenders were the subjects. MMPIs were collected as a part of evaluations to determine eligibility for a work release program. Results identified four distinct profile subgroups, which ranged in levels of psychopathology from normal to severely disturbed. Subgroups are discussed with reference to previous research and the development of a taxonomic system for homicide offenders.     

Relating personality characteristics to juvenile offense categories: differences between status offenders and juvenile delinquents

Examined the Jesness Inventories of 72 male juvenile offenders to see whether personality differences existed between the profiles of juvenile delinquents and status offenders. Of the 10 scales of the Jesness, analyses of variance yielded significant mean differences for 3 of the scales; 2 approached significance. A discriminant analysis also clearly discriminated between the two statutorily defined groups; status offenders appeared more rather than less disturbed than the juvenile delinquents. Results were discussed in terms of treatment ramifications and in providing empirical evidence to aid policy makers presently involved in deciding the appropriateness of court jurisdiction over status offenders.     

重新违法犯罪人员的人格特征研究

目的：探讨重新违法犯罪人员的人格特征。方法：采用人格诊断问卷（PDQ^ 4)对122名重新违法犯罪人员及932名初次违法人员进行测试,并对两者的结果予以比较。结果：与初次违法犯罪人员相比,重新违法犯罪人员以吸贩 毒品者相对居多,文化程度偏低,PDQ^ 4的总分、偏执、反社会和边缘三因子得分较高,结论：偏执、反社会和边缘型人格障碍可能是导致重新犯罪现象的重要人格特征。     

Racial influences on intelligence and personality measures of people who commit murder

Examined a sample of murderers (N = 137) (91 white and 46 black offenders) for racial differences on intelligence (both verbal and nonverbal) and personality measures. Black offenders scored significantly lower than white offenders on both verbal and nonverbal intelligence as well as on the SI scale of the MMPI. However, they scored higher on the MA scale. Overall, the intelligence measures discriminated better between black and white offenders than personality measures. Implications for future research and efforts to develop new norms for the MMPI are discussed.