Aggressive Script Rehearsal in Adult Offenders: Characteristics and Association With Self-Reported Aggression

This study explored the frequency, recency, content, severity, and targets of aggressive scripts reported by 94 incarcerated Australian males. The scripts of participants who reported a history of repeated and severe aggression were compared with the scripts of participants who reported a history of less severe and less frequent aggression. As hypothesized, participants with a history of more frequent and severe aggressive behavior reported more severe aggressive script content and more frequent script rehearsal. Furthermore, participants with a history of more frequent and severe aggressive behavior reported feelings of anticipation and excitement when they rehearsed aggressive scripts as well as an increase in the severity of aggressive scripts rehearsed over time. These results have important implications for risk assessment and treatment of violent offenders.

Dark Tetrad and psychological distress among male violent offenders and male community adults

The first aim of this study was to explore differences between male violent offenders and male community adults in Dark Tetrad traits and psychological distress. The second aim was to investigate moderation effects of dark traits in the prediction of psychological distress based on the membership of violent offenders or community adults. The sample included 142 male violent offenders (M = 40.73, SD = 11.43) convicted of murder, severe murder, or rape, and 573 men from the community population in Serbia without a history of criminal convictions (M = 41.71, SD = 15.11). Serbian adaptations of the Short Dark Triad (SD3), Comprehensive Assessment of Sadistic Tendencies (CAST), and Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation - Outcome Measure (CORE-OM) were used. Results showed that violent offenders had higher scores on psychopathy and problems in social and general functioning, while community adults had higher scores on narcissism. Furthermore, moderation analyses showed that physical sadism was significantly correlated with risk behaviors in the community adults, but not in violent offenders.

Biografische Vorbelastungen und verhaltensbasierte Indikatoren der Radikalisierung im Vorfeld islamistischer Gewalt

Using a German sample of convicted perpetrators (N = 76), the authors compare the biographical characteristics and preoffence warning behaviours of non-violent Islamist activists (n = 60) with those of Islamist assassins (n = 16). While the biographical characteristics focus on the socio-structural, familial and social stressors of the convicted in addition to age and education, the exploration of warning behaviour focuses on potentially observable patterns of action associated with radicalisation processes or serious targeted acts of violence. The data basis is formed by indictments and verdicts in corresponding criminal proceedings. A standardised instrument for quantitative file analysis in the context of murder and manslaughter offences was used to identify biographical characteristics and previous social burdens (Göbel et al., 2016). The Screener Islamism (Böckler et al., 2017) was used to examine early behaviour-based radicalisation indicators and the Warning Behaviour Typology (Meloy et al., 2012) was used to identify violence-associated behaviour patterns. While all Islamist offenders committed their crimes in early adulthood and had various social backgrounds in their biographies, Islamist activists and violent offenders differed significantly in the warning behaviour they displayed before committing an offence. In particular, acts of planning and preparation (pathway to violence), new forms of aggression (novel aggression), and patterns of action that indicate that the person feels he or she is at a biographical dead end (last resort) were able to differentiate between attackers and non-attackers. The results are particularly relevant from a preventive perspective, as they can be the basis for improving behaviour-based early detection of violence associated radicalisation processes in social institutions.

Understanding the Relevance of Triarchic Psychopathy for the Reintegration of New Zealand High-Risk Violent Offenders

<p>A significant number of male New Zealand high-risk violent offenders are released from prison onto parole each year. Many of these will also present with elevated psychopathic traits which have been hypothesised to cause significant difficulty in desisting from offending, often leading parolees to quickly recidivate or breach parole, and return to prison. Despite personality disorders having pervasive effects on functioning, other reintegration outcomes such as parolee experiences and reconviction risk on parole have previously been unlinked with personality disorders and even less so the specific components of psychopathy. Using an exploratory design, this study firstly investigated the relationships between the triarchic conceptualisation of psychopathy constructs of Disinhibition, Boldness, and Meanness individually with pre-release (Violence Risk Scale, Release Plan Quality, and RoC*RoI), and post-release (Dynamic Risk Assessment for Offender Re-entry, Probation Relationship Quality, Parole Experiences Measure, and recidivism) measures of reintegration outcomes. These measures were completed by a sample of high-risk violent offenders imminently before their release onto parole after serving custodial sentences of two years or more for a violent offence (pre-release), and at two months in the community (post-release). Secondly, the controversial question of whether boldness exacerbates or attenuates negative outcomes on parole over and above disinhibition or meanness was tested. Thirdly, relationships between psychopathy and recidivism mediated by reintegration outcome measures were examined. The triarchic scales were hypothesised to be relevant for reintegration outcomes, with poorer outcomes expected for disinhibition and meanness, and better outcomes expected for boldness. Further, boldness was expected to ameliorate negative outcomes when strongly present. Results indicated that the triarchic scales evinced differential relationships with reintegration outcomes, although boldness revealed non-significant outcomes in opposing directions from those hypothesised. Disinhibition and meanness evinced expected outcomes with reintegration outcome measures. An interaction effect was found between meanness and reconviction risk on parole at moderate and high levels of boldness; boldness potentiated the effect of meanness on reconviction risk on parole when meanness was already present. Finally, a significant partial mediation was revealed, where disinhibition and recidivism were mediated by parole experiences in three out of four recidivism outcomes. Implications for the theoretical and practical relevance of triarchic psychopathy for the reintegration of high-risk violent offenders, are discussed.</p>

Understanding the Relevance of Triarchic Psychopathy for the Reintegration of New Zealand High-Risk Violent Offenders

<p>A significant number of male New Zealand high-risk violent offenders are released from prison onto parole each year. Many of these will also present with elevated psychopathic traits which have been hypothesised to cause significant difficulty in desisting from offending, often leading parolees to quickly recidivate or breach parole, and return to prison. Despite personality disorders having pervasive effects on functioning, other reintegration outcomes such as parolee experiences and reconviction risk on parole have previously been unlinked with personality disorders and even less so the specific components of psychopathy. Using an exploratory design, this study firstly investigated the relationships between the triarchic conceptualisation of psychopathy constructs of Disinhibition, Boldness, and Meanness individually with pre-release (Violence Risk Scale, Release Plan Quality, and RoC*RoI), and post-release (Dynamic Risk Assessment for Offender Re-entry, Probation Relationship Quality, Parole Experiences Measure, and recidivism) measures of reintegration outcomes. These measures were completed by a sample of high-risk violent offenders imminently before their release onto parole after serving custodial sentences of two years or more for a violent offence (pre-release), and at two months in the community (post-release). Secondly, the controversial question of whether boldness exacerbates or attenuates negative outcomes on parole over and above disinhibition or meanness was tested. Thirdly, relationships between psychopathy and recidivism mediated by reintegration outcome measures were examined. The triarchic scales were hypothesised to be relevant for reintegration outcomes, with poorer outcomes expected for disinhibition and meanness, and better outcomes expected for boldness. Further, boldness was expected to ameliorate negative outcomes when strongly present. Results indicated that the triarchic scales evinced differential relationships with reintegration outcomes, although boldness revealed non-significant outcomes in opposing directions from those hypothesised. Disinhibition and meanness evinced expected outcomes with reintegration outcome measures. An interaction effect was found between meanness and reconviction risk on parole at moderate and high levels of boldness; boldness potentiated the effect of meanness on reconviction risk on parole when meanness was already present. Finally, a significant partial mediation was revealed, where disinhibition and recidivism were mediated by parole experiences in three out of four recidivism outcomes. Implications for the theoretical and practical relevance of triarchic psychopathy for the reintegration of high-risk violent offenders, are discussed.</p>

Altered Resting-State Functional Connectivity in the Default Mode Network in Male Juvenile Violent Offenders

Young males are often associated with more violence, leading to some serious negative consequences. However, the physiology and the neuroimaging patterns underlying juvenile violence remain unclear. Of the limited knowledge on juvenile violence, the default mode network has been known to be associated with its pathophysiology. This study aimed to investigate functional connectivity alterations of the default mode network in male juvenile violent offenders. 31 juvenile violent offenders in a high-security facility, who were convicted of aggressive behaviors by court, and 28 normal controls from a middle school were recruited as participants. They underwent a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan. And independent component analysis approaches were used to analyze their data. Compared to the normal controls, the juvenile violent offenders showed a different default mode network pattern, with the functional connectivity increased in the posterior cingulate, and decreased in the right middle temporal, left angular, right precuneus and right middle frontal cortex. Our findings revealed that the male juvenile violent offenders were associated with abnormal default mode network functional connectivity, which might be a neuroimaging basis for their tendency to violence.

Effectiveness of an Individual Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention for Serious, Young Male Violent Offenders: Randomized Controlled Study With Twenty-Four-Month Follow-Up

Background: Psychological recidivism-reducing interventions with serious, young violent offenders in residential care have unsatisfactory effects. We tested if a complementary individual cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT) intervention focusing problem-solving, cognitive self-control, and relapse prevention reduces criminal recidivism beyond usual institutional care encompassing interventions such as social skills training and prosocial modeling (treatment-as-usual; TAU).Method: We consecutively approached 115 eligible serious, male violent crime offenders in five residential treatment homes run by the Swedish National Board of Institutional Care. Eighty-one (70%) 16 to 21-year-old youth at medium-high violent recidivism risk were included and randomized to an individualized 15 to 20-session CBT intervention plus TAU (n = 38) or to TAU-only (n = 43), 4–6 months before release to the community. Participants were assessed pre- and post-treatment, at 12 months (self-reported aggressive behavior, reconvictions) and 24 months (reconvictions) after release. Intent-to-treat analyses were applied.Results: The violent reconviction rate was slightly higher for iCBT+TAU vs. TAU-only youth at 12 months (34 vs. 23%, d = 0.30, 95% CI: −0.24 to 0.84) and 24 months following release (50 vs. 40%, d = 0.23, 95% CI: −0.25 to 0.72), but neither of these differences were significant. Cox regression modeling also suggested non-significantly, negligibly to slightly more violent, and any criminal recidivism in iCBT+TAU vs. TAU-only youth during the entire follow-up. Further, we found no significant between-group differences in conduct problems, aggression, and antisocial cognitions, although both iCBT+TAU and TAU-only participants reported small to large within-group reductions across outcome measures at post-treatment. Finally, the 12-month follow-up suggested marginally more DSM-5 Conduct Disorder (CD) symptoms of “aggression to people and animals” in iCBT+TAU vs. TAU-only youth (d = 0.10, 95% CI: −0.40 to 0.60) although this difference was not significant.Conclusion: We found no additive effect of individual CBT beyond group-based TAU in residential psychological treatment for serious, young male violent offenders. Limited sample size and substantial treatment dropout reduced the robustness of intent-to-treat effect estimates. We discuss the possible impact of treatment dose and integrity, participant retention, and TAU quality.