Psychological Profiles of Brazilian Adolescent Offenders

2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 158-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Rezende Bazon ◽  
Lais Sette Galinari

AbstractThe present study verified the existence of psychological profiles among Brazilian adolescent offenders, using data from a sample (n=858) collected with the Brazilian version of the Revised Jesness Inventory (JI-R-Br). This instrument is a comprehensive, self-report measure of personal dispositions (traits) that are associated with vulnerability to antisocial behavior (Impulsivity, Aggression/Hostility, Sensation Seeking) and adaptive patterns (Antisocial Values/Beliefs and Antisocial Attitudes). Cluster analyses showed three significantly distinct groups: group 1 (n=276), called Asocial, was comprised of impulsive/aggressive adolescents with high antisocial motivation, low self-control and very focused on their own needs. Group 2 (n=346), called Neurotic Antisocial, was comprised of adolescents with high rates of depression and anxiety, as well as low self-control, but with less antisocial motivation when compared with group 1. Group 3 (n=236) was similar to group 4 (normative group; n=572). Our results corroborate those described by other studies in the literature. They show the importance of different practices and/or interventions when working with offenders, given that there are different profiles based on different psychological characteristics/needs for this population.

2003 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 671-690 ◽  
Author(s):  
Constance L. Chapple ◽  
Trina L. Hope

How versatile are gang and dating violence offenders? Current gang research highlights the versatility of gang members, yet the versatility of intimate violence offenders is often unexamined. Gottfredson and Hirschi,A General Theory of Crime(1990), support the idea of versatile rather than specialized offenders and suggests that low self-control is associated with a host of criminal and noncriminal risk-taking activities. Using data from a self-report sample of 1139 youths in grades 9 through 11, we investigated both the versatility of gang and dating violence offenders and theoretical variables associated with each. We find disproportionate offending by dating and gang violence offenders in a variety of crimes, as well as considerable overlap in the independent variables associated with both types of violence. Low levels of self-control and exposure to general and crime-specific criminal opportunities are significantly associated with engaging in dating and gang violence.


Author(s):  
Helmut Hirtenlehner ◽  
Heinz Leitgöb

AbstractCriminological research has identified low self-control as major cause of criminal activity. However, astonishingly little is known about the individual and situational characteristics that affect the functioning of self-control in relation to crime. Recent theorizing, especially in the context of Situational Action Theory, suggests that the interplay of personal and contextual morality creates a morally preselected choice set whose composition determines the relevance of self-control. Guided by the ideas of differential self-control effects and a moral filtering of action alternatives, the present inquiry investigates whether the role of self-control in crime causation depends on the power of moral factors to exclude crime from the set of the considered behavioral options. We argue that the significance of an individual’s capacity for self-control increases with a growing weakness of the moral filter, reaching its maximum when both personal and setting morality encourage criminal activity. Analyses of self-report data on adolescent vandalism delinquency provide support for differential self-control effects. The general picture is that self-control ability matters most when the strength of the moral filter hits a low, which is when both an individual’s own moral rules and the moral norms of the setting facilitate offending. Further evidence suggests that crime contemplation is highest when individual morality and setting morality jointly encourage vandalism. There is also indication that trait self-control has a greater effect on vandalism delinquency at higher levels of crime contemplation. All these results accord with the notion of a subsidiary relevance of control.


2020 ◽  
pp. 001112872098189
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Holt ◽  
Kevin F. Steinmetz

Criminological inquiry consistently identifies a gender difference in offending rates, which are also evident among certain forms of cybercrime. The gender difference in cybercrime offending is particularly large within computer hacking, though few have specifically addressed this issue through applications of criminological theory. The current study attempted to account for the gender disparity in hacking through a test of power-control theory, which considers the role of class and family structure. This analysis also incorporated an extension of power-control theory through the influence of low self-control. Using data from the Second International Self-Report of Delinquency study (ISRD-2), logistic regression analyses were estimated, producing partial support for both theories to account for hacking. Implications for theory and research were explored in detail.


Author(s):  
Francisca López-Torrecillas ◽  
Eva Castillo-Fernández ◽  
Isabel Ramírez-Uclés ◽  
Ignacio Matín

The main challenge of interventions in penitentiary institutions is the re-education and reintegration of inmates, i.e., that inmates have the intention and ability to live law-abiding lives. Therefore, an increase in self-control or, on the contrary, the decrease or elimination of impulsive versus compulsive behaviors becomes necessary. This study aimed to evaluate the role of impulsivity versus compulsivity in treatment adherence in the prison population. The study included 134 men from the Penitentiary Center of Granada who were divided into two groups. Group 1 was considered treatment adherent, and Group 2 was considered non-adherent to treatment. The following instruments were used: Symptom Inventory (SCL-90-R), Addiction Severity Index (EuropASI), Impulsivity Scale (UPPS-P), and Compulsive Belief Questionnaire (OBQ-44). Statistically significant differences were found in impulsivity in the dimensions of negative urgency, sensation seeking, and positive urgency, with higher scores in all cases for the non-adherent group than for the adherent group. We also found statistically significant differences in responsibility/inhibition, perfectionism/uncertainty, and importance/control, with higher scores for the non-adherent group compared to the adherent group. Treatment adherence is inversely related to impulsive and compulsive behaviors.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 401-409
Author(s):  
Hyunsuk Jeong ◽  
Hyeon Woo Yim ◽  
Seung-Yup Lee ◽  
Hae Kook Lee ◽  
Marc N. Potenza ◽  
...  

AbstractObjectivesWe examined serial mediating roles of low self-control and aggression in explaining relationships between levels of inattention and hyperactivity problems (IHPs) and severity of Internet gaming disorder (IGD) features when exposed to online games among adolescents without Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) stratified by gender using three-wave longitudinal study.MethodThe sample comprised a total of 1,732 family dyads from a study that was conducted among seventh graders without diagnoses of ADHD at baseline. Levels of IHPs were assessed by the parent reported Korean version of the ADHD rating scale at baseline (wave1). Severity of IGD features was assessed by the Internet Game Use-Elicited Symptom Screen (IGUESS) at wave3. Both levels of self-control (wave1) and aggression (wave2) were assessed by self-report. The mediating role of low self-control and aggression in the relationships between level of IHPs and severity of IGD were evaluated using serial mediation analysis separately for each gender.ResultsLevels of IHPs were related directly to severity of IGD features in both genders. The indirect effects via low self-control were also significant in both genders, however, the indirect effects via aggression was significant only in women. The serial mediation effect via low self-control and aggression between levels of IHPs and IGD features was significant in both genders (men, coefficient:0.009, 95%CI 0.005–0.019; women, coefficient:0.010, 95%CI:0.005–0.026).ConclusionWe revealed a possible mechanism underlying a serial mediation chain from low self-control to aggression explaining the effects of IHPs on severity of IGD features. However, this conclusion should be taken with a caution, because the effect sizes were very low.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 379-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyunin Baek ◽  
Jason A. Nicholson ◽  
George E. Higgins

Researchers in criminal justice literature have relatively underexamined the delinquency among Native American (NA) youth. Using data from the Drug Use Among Young Indians: Epidemiology and Prediction study, the present study tested assumptions in Gottfredson and Hirschi’s self-control theory. This study found evidence supporting the theory. Low self-control was a significant predictor to NA adolescents’ delinquency. However, parental intervention as an opportunity measure and it was not a mediation between low self-control and delinquency. Moreover, while parental intervention significantly decreased delinquency by female adolescents, parental intervention significantly increased delinquency by male adolescents. In addition, the mediation effect in structural equation modeling for males occurred; in contrast, the effect in the female model did not happen. On the other hand, low self-control was still the crucial predictor to adolescents’ delinquency across gender. Thus, future studies will need to account for the etiology of NA adolescents’ delinquency across gender using different approaches.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Carmassi ◽  
Carlo Antonio Bertelloni ◽  
Valerio Dell'Oste ◽  
Chiara Luperini ◽  
Donatella Marazziti ◽  
...  

Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the most frequent and severe psychiatric consequences of natural disasters, frequently associated with suicidality. The aim of this study was at examining the possible relationships between suicidal behaviors and full-blown or partial PTSD, in a sample of young earthquake survivors. The second aim was at investigating the specific role of PTSD symptoms on suicidality.Methods: A total of 475 young adults who survived the L'Aquila 2009 earthquake, one of the most severe Italian disasters of the last decades, were recruited and assessed after 21 months from the catastrophe. Participants were evaluated by two questionnaires assessing subthreshold psychopathology, the Trauma and Loss Spectrum Self-Report (TALS-SR) to investigate both full and partial PTSD, and two specific Mood Spectrum Self-Report (MOODS-SR) sub-domains exploring suicidality, namely suicidal ideation and suicide attempts.Results: The ensuing findings showed that suicidal ideation and suicide attempts were present, respectively, in 40 (8.4%) and 11 (2.3%) survivors. Rates of suicidal ideation were significantly more elevated in full-blown PTSD subjects (group 1), as compared with those suffering from partial (group 2) or no PTSD (group 3). Interestingly, group 2 subjects showed significantly more suicidal ideation than healthy individuals, and less than those of group 1, while the frequency of suicide attempts was similar across the three groups. Suicidal ideation was associated with higher scores in the following TALS-SR domains: grief-reactions, re-experiencing, avoidance and numbing, maladaptive coping, and personal characteristics/risk factor.Conclusions: The results of the present study support and extend previous findings on the role of PTSD symptoms in suicidality after a severe earthquake. However, as compared with available literature, they also highlight the significant impact of sub-threshold PTSD manifestations in increasing the suicide risk in survivors of a mass disaster.


2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (7) ◽  
pp. 980-998
Author(s):  
Cheryl L. Johnson ◽  
Pamela Wilcox ◽  
Samuel Peterson

Using data on middle-school adolescents from the Rural Substance Abuse and Violence Project (RSVP), the authors examined the extent to which psychological difficulties are related to student weapon carrying and use, net of other criminological variables. Furthermore, the authors examined whether psychological difficulties had variable effects across school contexts. Initial logistic regression models showed that variables tapping psychological difficulties (fear of crime, family history of mental illness, and low self-control) were significantly related to student weapon carrying and use. Once other criminological and demographic controls were added, only low self-control remained significant. Multilevel models incorporating random slope coefficients and cross-level interactions showed that the relationship between low self-control and student weapon carrying/use was attenuated in schools with higher levels of school efficacy and school security. Similarly, the relationship between fear of crime and weapon carrying depended on the level of school security, with the effect weakened as school security increased.


Author(s):  
Anna Leimberg ◽  
Peter S. Lehmann

Research consistently finds that unstructured socializing with peers and low self-control are both positively associated with substance use among adolescents. However, largely absent from the literature is a consideration of whether unstructured socializing with peers and low self-control have differential and interactive effects when predicting usage of different classifications of drugs. The current study addresses these issues using data collected on a statewide sample of middle school and high school students who participated in the 2017 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey. Results indicate that (1) unstructured socializing with peers is a stronger predictor of soft drug use than low self-control, (2) low self-control is a stronger predictor of hard drug use than unstructured socializing with peers, and (3) the effect of unstructured socializing on both soft and hard drug use is diminished among adolescents who are lower in self-control.


2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (10) ◽  
pp. 3058-3076 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa R. Muftić ◽  
Alexander H. Updegrove

This study aims to clarify the relationships between parenting techniques, low self-control, and juvenile delinquency in Gottfredson and Hirschi’s general theory of crime while controlling for alternative explanations of delinquency. We relied on a sample of 35,511 adolescent students from 31 countries from the International Self-Report Delinquency 2 Study. Results indicate that parenting exhibits a direct effect on adolescents’ violence perpetration and property offending, and that while self-control weakens the strength of this relationship, it fails to fully mediate it. Males reported lower levels of self-control, exposure to poorer parenting techniques, and higher rates of violence perpetration and property offending. The relationship between parenting, self-control, and juvenile delinquency was similar for females and males. These results provide evidence that parenting has important implications for adolescents’ involvement in delinquency above and beyond its influence on their level of self-control.


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