RISK FACTORS FOR OFFENDING
Facts about crime:
The Home Office estimates that total cost of crime in Britain each year is £59.9
billion.
Drugs and alcohol are major factors in crime
Over 40% of offences are committed under the influence of alcohol.
Drug-related crime costs the country up to £18 billion a year.
But in 1997-8: only £1.4 billion was spent on tackling drug misuse.
- 75% on law enforcement
- 13% on treatment and rehabilitation
- 12% on education and prevention
YJB National stats (2007-8):
- More in older adolescents (16-18)
- More males
- Mostly white
- Youth offenders don’t tend to specialise in any one type of crime - do all
British Crime Survey: 44% reduction in crime since 1995 (falls in burglary and vehicle
theft).
Problems with BCS: (i) adults only (ii) not businesses.
Multiple problems faced
Offenders tend to be victims themselves
Social exclusion unit report on prisoners:
- 50% have history of running away from home
- One third were in care as children
- > 50% have no qualifications
- 65% numeracy skills < average 11 year old
- 80% worse writing skills
- 7/10 have 2 or more mental health disorders
Main theories
Psychological theories:
Psychoanalytical (Freud-maternal deprivation),
- Aichhorm (1925/1955): latent delinquency - underlying predisposition for
delinquency - partly innate, partly governed by early emotional relationships
- Bowlby (1944) - 44 thieves referred to his clinic (biased) - 39% of delinquents had
maternal separation, compared to 5% of non-delinquents. But criticised -
unrepresentative samples, poor control group matching, less reliable methods of
assessment
Learning theories (Bandura- delinquent parents)
, Control Theories: everyone has the potential to be a criminal - so why is that not
everyone commits crimes - moral development? Eysenck- some people are born with
cortical or autonomic nervous system which affects their ability to learn from/condition
to environmental stimuli
Biochemical/neurological:
Hippochen (1978) suggested defiency in vitamin B3 is a major cause of hyperactivity in
adolescents, which is linked to later delinquency
WHAT IS A RISK FACTOR?
- Increases your chances of an outcome
- Can come from something you do (smoking, drinking) or something you don’t do
(genes)
- Variables predicting onset, duration and severity of health or behavioural problems
- Direct(XY) / risk modifier ( less direct path from X to Y)
- Specific/ nonspecific
- Timing significant - poor parenting in childhood = poor attachment. Can be a
problem later in life.
- Protective factors?? Not much research
Types of studies
1) Prevalence: e.g. factor X in populations (substance abuse)
2) Retrospective: factor X in past (child abuse)
3) Controlled: factor X in offender populations vs. Non offending populations
4) Prospective: longitudinal ,cohort
Prevalence:
Dixon et al 2004
o Study Type: Prevalence ( with comparison group - controlled)
o Participants: 100 female juvenile offenders vs. 100 matched (age, SES)
comparison group.
o Selection: not described.
o Response: not described.
o Attrition: n/a.
o Predictors (IV): affective disorders and SZ, family adaptability and cohesion scale.
o Outcomes (DV): offender status
o Time period: N/A.
o Results:
o Conduct disorder, substance abuse, depression and PTSD all higher in
offenders
o Co-morbidity common (average 4 in offenders)
Facts about crime:
The Home Office estimates that total cost of crime in Britain each year is £59.9
billion.
Drugs and alcohol are major factors in crime
Over 40% of offences are committed under the influence of alcohol.
Drug-related crime costs the country up to £18 billion a year.
But in 1997-8: only £1.4 billion was spent on tackling drug misuse.
- 75% on law enforcement
- 13% on treatment and rehabilitation
- 12% on education and prevention
YJB National stats (2007-8):
- More in older adolescents (16-18)
- More males
- Mostly white
- Youth offenders don’t tend to specialise in any one type of crime - do all
British Crime Survey: 44% reduction in crime since 1995 (falls in burglary and vehicle
theft).
Problems with BCS: (i) adults only (ii) not businesses.
Multiple problems faced
Offenders tend to be victims themselves
Social exclusion unit report on prisoners:
- 50% have history of running away from home
- One third were in care as children
- > 50% have no qualifications
- 65% numeracy skills < average 11 year old
- 80% worse writing skills
- 7/10 have 2 or more mental health disorders
Main theories
Psychological theories:
Psychoanalytical (Freud-maternal deprivation),
- Aichhorm (1925/1955): latent delinquency - underlying predisposition for
delinquency - partly innate, partly governed by early emotional relationships
- Bowlby (1944) - 44 thieves referred to his clinic (biased) - 39% of delinquents had
maternal separation, compared to 5% of non-delinquents. But criticised -
unrepresentative samples, poor control group matching, less reliable methods of
assessment
Learning theories (Bandura- delinquent parents)
, Control Theories: everyone has the potential to be a criminal - so why is that not
everyone commits crimes - moral development? Eysenck- some people are born with
cortical or autonomic nervous system which affects their ability to learn from/condition
to environmental stimuli
Biochemical/neurological:
Hippochen (1978) suggested defiency in vitamin B3 is a major cause of hyperactivity in
adolescents, which is linked to later delinquency
WHAT IS A RISK FACTOR?
- Increases your chances of an outcome
- Can come from something you do (smoking, drinking) or something you don’t do
(genes)
- Variables predicting onset, duration and severity of health or behavioural problems
- Direct(XY) / risk modifier ( less direct path from X to Y)
- Specific/ nonspecific
- Timing significant - poor parenting in childhood = poor attachment. Can be a
problem later in life.
- Protective factors?? Not much research
Types of studies
1) Prevalence: e.g. factor X in populations (substance abuse)
2) Retrospective: factor X in past (child abuse)
3) Controlled: factor X in offender populations vs. Non offending populations
4) Prospective: longitudinal ,cohort
Prevalence:
Dixon et al 2004
o Study Type: Prevalence ( with comparison group - controlled)
o Participants: 100 female juvenile offenders vs. 100 matched (age, SES)
comparison group.
o Selection: not described.
o Response: not described.
o Attrition: n/a.
o Predictors (IV): affective disorders and SZ, family adaptability and cohesion scale.
o Outcomes (DV): offender status
o Time period: N/A.
o Results:
o Conduct disorder, substance abuse, depression and PTSD all higher in
offenders
o Co-morbidity common (average 4 in offenders)
