A Profile Study of Elderly Offenders in the Community Criminal Courts of Singapore: Theorizing Geriatric Criminality

This research, using data from the Community Criminal Courts where a majority of elderly offenders are tried and sentenced, investigates the socio-economic profile of elderly offenders and the factors influencing their criminal motivation in Singapore. It revisits conceptualizations of offending in older age which until now has received scant attention even in Asian societies where ties to conventional institutions are thought to be “protective.” The majority of elderly offenders in this study were “revolving door prisoners” and were never in possession of any efficacious social capital that would have prevented them from committing a crime or enabled their re-entry process, a problem compounded by the study’s findings that almost 70% of the sampled offenders had experienced mental health issues. This would have spelled adverse consequences for their desistance and, conversely, their recidivist behavior, a finding that was consistent with many other studies that had examined the association between psychosis and crime.

A clinico-epidemiological profile study of venereal genital dermatoses in a tertiary hospital in southern Nigeria: A 5-year review

Venereal genital dermatoses are cutaneous morbidities contracted and transmitted by sexual contact. They are caused by microorganisms that survive on the skin or mucous membranes, or that are transmitted via semen, vaginal secretions, or blood during sexual intercourse. Data on pattern of presentation and diagnoses of venereal genial dermatoses are limited in Nigeria. The aim of this study was to determine the pattern of presentation of venereal genital dermatoses over a 5-year period in the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. Information extracted from patients’ medical records included socio-demographic data, duration of symptom, distribution of lesions, symptomatology and diagnoses of the venereal genital dermatoses. There were 121 patients with venereal genital dermatoses amongst 1600 new cases seen over the 5-year period constituting a prevalence of 7.6%. The male:female ratio of the study population was 1.5:1 and their mean age was 26.2 ± 10.5 years. The predominant symptoms at presentation were abnormal genital growth in 108 (89.3%), genital ulcer in 12 (9.9%), and genital pain in 11 (9.1%). The common venereal genital dermatoses were anogenital warts in 108 (89.3%) and genital herpes in 11 (9.1%). Venereal genital dermatoses are a relatively common dermatological presentation in UBTH and anogenital wart was the most common type. Venereal genital dermatoses were more common in the young age group and males. The most predominant site of affectation was the vulva in females and penis in males.