Crime - Lecture 1

introduction to the course and key concepts

farringdon & west - context

• most violent crimes are committed by a small group of men who show an early onset and lifelong pattern of antisocial behaviour

• around 5% of the population is responsible for around 70% of violent crimes committed in society

  • has been shown in many different countries, criminal justice systems, mental health systems, educational systems

• antisocial personality disorder (moffitt, 1993)

  • one of 10 personality disorders in the DSM

  • only personality disorder with childhood antecedent in it’s diagnostic requirment

    • met diagnostic criteria by 15

antisocial behaviour

• behaviour by a person which causes or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more persons not of the same household as the person

• antisocial behaviour act

aggressive behaviour

• aggressive behaviour is a multifaceted construct that may be expressed behaviourally in many ways

• 200 different definitions of aggression have been proposed (parrott & giancola, 2007)

• ‘any form of behaviour directed towards the goal of harming or injuring another living being who is motivated to avoid such treatment’ (baron & richardson, 1994)

forms of aggression

• direct vs indirect (buss, 1961)

• overt vs covert (buss, 1995)

• physical vs verbal (buss, 1961)

• overt vs relational (crick, casas & mosher, 1997)

functions of aggression

• reactive vs proactive (also referred to as instrumental, predatory, premeditated, offensive)

• evidence from neuroscience that different types of aggression are underpinned by different neural circuitry

• different types of aggression map onto different subgroups

• reactive aggression can be seen in:

  • psychopathy, antisocial personality disorder, PTSD, depression

  • can be motivated by different factors (e.g. frustration-based or threat-based)

psychopathy in adulthood

• unique as a psychiatric disorder, as it is characterised by a high level of instrumental and proactive aggression in psychiatry

• one of the only disorders where you can see a high level of instrumental or proactive aggression

instrumental aggression

• purposeful and goal-directed

• unprovoked and typically involves planning, forethought and is undertaken to achieve a particular desired goal

• roots in social learning theory (bandura, 1973)

  • operant conditioning

  • aggression leads to reward which leads to re offence)

• associated with traits of callousness, coldness, and a lack of empathy towards victims, and with a low level of autonomic arousal

reactive aggression

• elicited in response to frustration or threatening event

• frequently associated with anger

• roots in the frustration-aggression model

• emotionally charged

• seen in several internalising (e.g. depression, PTSD) and externalising disorder (conduct disorder, ADHD)

aggressive behaviour vs violence

• violence is:

  • according to Anderson & bushman (2002), ‘aggression that has extreme harm as its goal’

  • for blackburn (2003), ‘the forceful infliction of physical injury’

• considered as a severe, life-threatening, physically aggressive behaviour

  • extreme end of spectrum of aggressive behaviour

violent offending

• a subcategory of violence and refers to acts of violence that lead to convictions under criminal law

• some studies have defined a violent offence/offender status based on:

  • the index offence alone (i.e. the offence for which the person was taken into custody)

  • the whole criminal history

  • self-report

  • idiosyncratic codes (own way of encoding violence - different to replicate)

crime and crime data

any form of human behaviour that is designated by the law as criminal and subject to a penal sanction

the ‘looking glass of crime’

• defining:

  • actual crime

  • official crime

  • dark figure

• dark figure of crime

  • the amount of crime that is unreported or unknown

  • the total amount of crime in a community consists of the crimes that are known or recorded and the dark figure of crime (e.g. partner violence)

• official sources

  • ‘reality is merely an appearance of something more real’ (darrell huff, 1954)

crime funnel

• it is useful to consider the criminal justice system as a large funnel

• at the wide mouth of the funnel are all the crimes committed in society, including every murder, rape, burglary, insurance fraud, shoplifting, and car theft

persistent offenders

• a small group of males is responsible for the majority of (violent) crimes that are committed by men

• early-onset conduct disorder

• antisocial personality disorder in adulthood

• referred to as ‘life-course’ persistent offenders

risk factors for the prevalence of persistent offending

findings from the HO 1998/99 youth lifestyle survey

• male

• living in an inner city

• low social class

• lone or step parents

• criminal parents

• poor parental supervision

• delinquent friends

• bullying

• truancy

• excluded from school

• low achievement

• regular drinking

cumulative effect of risk factors

relationship between the number of risk factors and the probability you were identified as a serious or persistent offender in the last 12 months

diagnosis of conduct disorder

• characterised by “a repetitive and persistent pattern of behaviour in which the basic rights of others or major age-appropriate societal norms or rules are violated”, resulting in a clinically significant impairment in functioning

• includes:

  • overt symptoms

    • aggression to people and animals

    • destruction of property

  • covert symptoms

    • deceitfulness and theft

    • violation of rules

dsm-5 diagnostic criteria for CD - aggression to people and animals

1. often bullies, threatens, or intimidates others

2. often initiates physical fights

3. has used a weapon that can cause serious physcial harm to others

4. has been physically cruel to people

5. has been physically cruel to animals

6. has stolen while confronting a victim

7. has forced someone into sexual activity

dsm-5 diagnostic criteria for CD - destruction of property

1. has deliberately engaged in fire setting with the intention of causing damage

2. has deliberately destroyed others’ property (other than by fire setting)

dsm-5 diagnostic criteria for CD - deceitfulness or theft

1. has broken into someone else’s house, building, or car

2. often lies to obtain goods or favours or to avoid obligations

3. has stolen items of nontrivial value without confronting a victim

dsm-5 diagnostic criteria for CD - serious violations of rules

1. often stays out at night despite parental prohibitions, beginning before age 13

2. has run away from home overnight at least twice

3. often truant from school, beginning before age 13

dsm-5 diagnostic criteria for CD

• needs to fulfill 3 criteria in the last 12 months, and 1 present in the last 6

• childhood-onset: at least one problem with conduct before age 10

• adolescent-onset: no problems with conduct before age 10

dsm-5 diagnostic criteria for CD - new specifier

with limited prosocial emotions

• lack of remorse or guilt

• callousness/lack of empathy

• lack of concern about performance in important activities

• shallow or deficient affect

child needs to fulfil specific specifications for conduct disorder, and fulfil 2 out of the criteria in the last 12 months in different settings

offenders as a percentage of the population: the ‘age-crime’ curve

• age of onset

• % of the general popilation engaging in crime

• during adolescence there’s a peak in crime

• males outperform females

moffitt - the developmental taxonomic theory overview

• childhood-onset/life-course persistent antisocial behaviour

  • a neurodevelopmental disorder

• Adolescence-limited antisocial behaviour

  • due to social modelling of antisocial peers

  • no role for neuropsychology/individual characteristics

• dsm-5 distinguishes between childhood-onset and adolescence-onset forms of CD

moffitt - the developmental taxonomic theory - childhood-onset/life-course persistent antisocial behaviour

• individually-based risks

• neurocognitive deficits (low verbal IQ, executive functions deficits)

• under controlled temperament (volatile emotionally)

• hyperactivity

moffitt - the developmental taxonomic theory - adolescence-limited antisocial behaviour

• individually-based risks are less salient

• exaggerated form of ‘normal’ rebelliousness

• psychosocial factors are more salient

  • influence of deviant peers

  • adolescent ‘maturity gap’

• dsm-5 distinguishes between childhood-onset and adolescence-onset forms of CD

frick & viding - three pathways to CD

1. adolescent onset

2. chilshood onset with high callous-unemotional traits

3. childhood onset associated with emotional and behavioural dysregulation (low CU traits)

frick & viding - two subgroups of childhood-onset CD

• two subtypes based on levels of CU traits

  • lack of empathy and guilt

  • callous use of others

• included as a specifier in dsm-5

• there is evidence for distinct neurocognitive profiles and differing aetiologies

• CP+CU = lack of emotional responsiveness to negative emotional stimuli

• CP-CU traits = high emotional reactivity/poor emotion regulation

dsm-5 diagnostic criteria: antisocial personality disorder

• Disregard for and violation of others' rights since age 15, as indicated

• by 3 or more of the following features:

1. Failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviours as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest

2. Deceitfulness, as indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure

3. Impulsivity or failure to plan ahead

4. Irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults

5. Reckless disregard for safety of self or others

6. Consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behaviour or honour financial obligations

7. Lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalising having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another

• The person is at least 18 years of age

• Conduct disorder was present by history before age 15 years

• The antisocial behaviour does not occur in the context of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder

antisocial personality disorder and conduct disorder

• label changes from CD to ASPD when the individual turns 18

• CD is a specification required for the diagnosis of ASPD

• needs to meet 3 traits of the specifications

• if they do not meet for ASPD, but do for CD as an adult, they can be given the label CD as an adult

  • very rare

• ASPD is the only personality disorder that has a childhood antecedent

hare - the relationship between ASPD, CD and psychopathy

• 50-80% of male prisoners have met diagnostic criteria for CD, and then for ASPD in adulthood

• 15-20% have diagnostic traits for psychopathy

• the relationship between CD/ASPD and psychopathy is asymmetric

  • most/all individuals with psychopathy will have ASPD, but not the other way around

  • due to the diagnostic criteria for psychopathy being very similar, but also having very unique traits

psychopathy

• greater number of crimes

• more violent crimes

• more likely to recidivate

• key characteristics

  • lack empathy and remorse

  • manipulative

  • start offeding at young age

  • premeditated violence

  • persistent and versatile offenders

  • offenders at young age

gao et al. - is psychopathy a neurodevelopmental disorder?

• some forms of CD and psychopathy could be neurodevelopmental in origin

• has genetic underpinnings

• abnormalities in brain structure and function

• neurocognitive impairments

• persistent through development

CD as risk factors for problems in adolescence and adulthood

• Mental health

• Legal

• Educational

• Social

• Occupational

• Physical health

• psychiatric disorder associated with the most burden in ages 1-14

• high chance of ADHD, PTSD

scott et al. - costs of conduct disorder

• a large association with crime

  • children with CD are largely sent to groups dealing with crime, rather than to provide support

kim-cohen et al. - CD as a risk factor for psychiatric disorder in adulthood

• CD is associated with many psychiatric outcomes in adulthood

• presence of CD at age 15 increases the risk of other disorders

  • such as anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, etc.

de brito & hodgins - disorders co-morbid with CD

• children with CD frequently display other types of problems

• between 8.7% and 45.4% of boys and between 1.2% and 61.4% of girls with CD also present ADHD

• in community samples, the prevalence of comorbid anxiety disorders ranges from 22% to 33%, while among children with CD who have sought treatment, 60% to 75% present with anxiety disorders

• comorbidity estimates ranging from 12-17.6% have been found for depressive disorders

moffitt et al. - prognosis of CD

• In general, the literature suggests that

  • Children who develop conduct disordered behaviour later in childhood have a somewhat better prognosis

  • The severity and variety of early antisocial behaviour is a powerful predictor of serious antisocial behaviour in adulthood

  • The prognosis may be worse for those who also have co-morbid disorders.

frick - risk factors associated with CD - dispositional

• Neurochemical (e.g., serotonin)

• Autonomic irregularities (e.g., low resting heart rate),

• Neurocognitive deficits (e.g., executive functioning)

• Deficits in the processing of social information (e.g., a hostile attributional bias)

• Temperamental vulnerabilities (e.g., poor emotional regulation)

• Personality predispositions (e.g., impulsivity)

frick - risk factors associated with CD - contextual

• child’s prenatal (e.g. exposure to toxins)

• early child care (e.g. poor quality child care)

• family (e.g. ineffective discipline)

• peer (e.g. association with deviant peers)

• neighbourhood (e.g. high levels of exposure to violence), environments

psychopathology

the field of psychology which aims to understand the aetiology, nature, and treatment of mental disorders

developmental psychopathology

• aims to understand how psychopathology emerges over the lifespan

• kerig et al.

  • ‘developmental psychopathology is the study of developmental processes that contribute to, or protect against, psychopathology’

brofenbrenner - developmenal psychopathology approach

the developmental psychopathology approach

• Multiple levels of analysis and theoretical perspectives: ‘from neurons to neighbourhoods’

  • our environment shapes our brain over time

  • we also influence our environment (peer groups, schooling, etc)

• tracking development of mental illness over time

  • understanding contribution of different variables (risk & resilience factors)

• understanding mental disorders & psychopathology better by characterising normative development

moving away from typical divisions of labour in psychology

• the developmental psychopathology approach integrates across social, cognitive, emotional, and biological levels of analysis

  • it contends that mental disorders cannot be fully understoof by focusing on any of these levels in isolation

  • in addition, these levels are in constant interaction with each other (and time)

frick - characteristics of a comprehensive etiological model of CD from a developmental psychopathology perspective

1. Must consider the potential role of multiple risk factors

2. Must consider the possibility that subgroups of children with CD may have distinct causal mechanisms underlying their antisocial and aggressive behaviours

3. Needs to integrate research on the development of antisocial and aggressive behaviour with research on normally developing youth

4. Needs to integrate multiple levels of analyses (e.g., genetic, neurological, social, cognitive, behavioural)

frick & viding - developmental psychopathology perspective on CD

1. Provides a very useful way for integrating the diverse research litertaure into a coherent causal model

   1. helps us to understand the developmental mechanisms that can lead to CD and to translate this research into implications for prevention and intervention

2. key developmental psychopathology concepts:

   1. equifinality and multifinality

   2. importance of integrating research on both normal and abnomal development

   3. importance of integrating multiple levels of analysis for understanding CD

cicchetti and rogosch - developmental pathways

• outcome - e.g. mental health condition/state

• equifinality - to reach the outcome, there might be different causal pathways leading to the same outcome

• multifinality - multiple endpoints (e.g. 4 siblings who grew up together all ending with different states)

canalisation

when processes become increasingly stable or set in motion down a particular trajectory (very unlikely to change pathway)

critical/sensitive periods

phases of heightened sensitivity to environmental factors such as adverse life events or abuse

• e.g. 6-month threshold in early deprivation studies

gottlieb - different models of the operation of risk factors

• unidirectional - too simplisitc

• bidirectional

  • involves genes, enviornment, behaviour, etc.

  • certain genetic dispositions might influence how you develop

  • or certain environmental factors during youth

• epigenetics

  • we are born with a certain genetic makeup that is fixed

  • however, the environment can influence genetic expression (nt fixed)

frick & viding - developmental psychopathology approach on CD

• “a developmental psychopathology approach should emphasise potential differences in the developmental mechanims that may underlie these behavioural manifestations or personality features”

• e.g. the same behavioural pattern can be the result of very different developmental mechanisms

criteria for inferring causality

• A (proposed cause - child abuse) and B (outcome - ASPD) are related to one another (correlation or association)

• A precedes B in time (i.e. ASPD symptoms do not emerge before the onset of childhood abuse)

• level or intensity of A predicts severity of B

• when accounting for extraneous variables (e.g. poverty) the relationship between A and B still holds

research designs in developmental psychopathology - longitudinal

• characteristic of the developmental psychopathology approach

• types of longitudinal designs:

  • retrospective - obtaining info about history (e.g. age of onset)

  • follow-back - using previously recorded data about a group of individuals (e.g. time when taken into care/abused)

  • prospective - info collected repeatedly on the same individuals over time

research designs in developmental psychopathology - cross-sectional

• studying different age groups at a single point in time

• problems of causal inference

• susceptible to cohort effects

  • one age group might be more/less disturbed for reasons not directly related to chronological development

loeber & farrington - research designs in developmental psychopathology

• accelerated longtidunial designs - prospective longitudinal study with shorter follow-up intervals

  • with multiple age groups

• studies can be completed more rapidly, but still retain longitudinal component

• again, potentially subject to cohort effects

  • selective loss of ppts across groups

clinical sample

ensures study ppts are likely to have disorder of interestt, but problems of recruitment bias

community sample

recruiting high-risk sample from schools or some other setting

• unlikely to find people with certain conditions, such as CD

representative sample

sample matched with general population on key characteristics

critique of developmental psychopathology approach

ways around critiques of developmental psychopathology