Citation

Langevin R, Langevin M, Curnoe S, Bain J. Int. J. Prison Health 2008; 4(2): 83-95.

Affiliation

University of Toronto, Canada. langevin95@sympatico.ca

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Emerald Group)

DOI

10.1080/17449200802038215

PMID

18464062

Abstract

The prevalence of diabetes among 915 sexual, violent, and non-violent non-sex offenders was found to be more than twice the prevalence in the general population. Diabetes was most common among violent offenders and among sex offenders who victimized children. The older diabetics presented significantly more often with cognitive impairment and younger diabetics more often with manic and psychotic symptoms. Younger diabetics were significantly more likely to use force and a weapon in their offenses and were most likely to injure their victims when compared to older diabetics and younger and older non-diabetic offenders. In more than one in four cases, the diabetes was undiagnosed at the time of their offenses prior to clinical assessment, suggesting that undiagnosed diabetes may be a possible mitigating factor in some sexual and violent offenses. Results indicate that a routine endocrine evaluation with blood tests would be a valuable addition to the assessment of violent and sexual offenders.

Language: en