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Abstract
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Minor physical anomalies (MPA) result from disruptions of gestation, and may be used as signs of central nervous system defects in development. Utilizing a Danish birth cohort, we tested the hypothesis that MPA predict adolescent and adult recidivistic violent criminal behavior. The number of MPA was measured at 11 to 13 years of age and police records of criminal behavior were ascertained at 20 to 22 years of age. Recidivistic violent offenders evidenced an elevated level of MPA compared with subjects with one violent offense or subjects with no violent offenses.
VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The aim of this study by Kandel et al. was to examine the relationship between minor physical anomalies and recidivistic adult and adolescent violent criminal behavior.
METHODOLOGY:
The authors employed a quasi-experimental prospective longitudinal study with a non-probability sample of 265 children, drawn from a Danish perinatal study examining all children born in an area of Copenhagen between September 1, 1959 and December 31, 1961. The sample consisted of four groups of children: children with a schizophrenic parent (n=72), children with character-disordered mothers or psychopathic fathers (n=72), a control group of children whose parents had no history of psychiatric disorder (n=72), and a group of special controls whose subjects were precision matched for events in pregnancy and delivery with children of schizophrenic parents. The first three groups were matched for sex of ill parent and of child, race, multiple birth status, pregnancy number, social class, mother's age and height, and father's age. Extent of minor physical anomalies was measured at age 11 to 13 by a pediatric neurologist, assessing 18 different aspects of physical make-up. Information on criminal records was obtained via use of the National Police Register arrest record in 1981, when subjects were between 20 and 22 years of age. Violent offenses included domestic violence, disorderly conduct, illegal possession of a weapon, threats of violence, robbery, armed robbery, assault and murder. Property offenses included stealing for temporary use, minor larceny, illegal handling of stolen objects, shoplifting, buying or selling stolen goods, car theft, breaking and entering, and purse snatching. Analysis involved frequencies of anomalies, cross-tabulations and logistic regression.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
The authors found that the mean anomalies count for all subjects was 3.4, with 4 or more being considered as high, and with 3 or fewer as low. Nineteen of the subjects had been arrested for at least one violent crime, with 10 of these being recidivistically violent. Significant cross-tabulations showed that subjects with no or one violent offense fell into the low anomaly category, but 70% of recidivists fell into the high anomaly group. However, most subjects with high levels of physical anomalies were not recidivistic violent offenders. In order to control for confounding effects of class, age, sex and parental psychiatric condition, a logistic regression analysis was performed. Results indicated that the level of physical anomaly could significantly predict violent offenses, even controlling for these other factors. Turning to property offenses, cross-tabulations showed no relationship between anomalies and number of offenses. The authors concluded that their results could tentatively support the hypothesis that malformation of the central nervous system due to disruption of fetal neural development was related to adult recidivistic violent behavior.
EVALUATION:
The authors present an interesting discussion of the relationship between minor physical anomalies and recidivistic adult violent criminal behavior. However, the small number of people who actually had arrest records for violent offenses (19) suggests that the findings be interpreted with some caution. No measure of reliability was available for the neurologist's assessment of the subjects for physical anomalies, and physical anomalies have been found to be stable only up to the age of 7, not up to 11 to 13 when the subjects were assessed. A more thorough discussion of the results would have been helpful, as would have some attention to the implications of the findings for policy and treatment planning. The study should generally be seen as a brief and preliminary step in the study of the recidivistic adult violent criminal offender. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
KW - Foreign Countries
KW - Denmark
KW - Crime Causes
KW - Violence Causes
KW - Recidivism Prediction
KW - Crime Prediction
KW - Violence Prediction
KW - Physically Handicapped Offender
KW - Prenatal Development
KW - Child Development
KW - Biological Factors
KW - Neurological Factors
KW - Longitudinal Studies
KW - Adult Offender
KW - Adult Crime
KW - Adult Violence
KW - Juvenile Crime
KW - Juvenile Offender
KW - Juvenile Violence
Language: en |