Journal of Criminal Justice 41(2)

Journal of Criminal Justice, March 2013: Volume 41, Issue 2

Introduction to the special issue: Psychology of crime  
Glenn D. Walters

Psychology misrepresented in many criminology and criminal justice textbooks. Need for a more accurate portrayal of psychology's contributions to crime. Variety of different clinical psychological models and perspectives examined

Community-based alternatives for justice-involved individuals with severe mental illness: Diversion, problem-solving courts, and reentry
David DeMatteo, Casey LaDuke, Benjamin R. Locklair, Kirk Heilbrun

Adults with severe mental illness are overrepresented in criminal justice system. Criminal justice system has made noteworthy advances for handling these offenders. Community-based alternatives have varying degrees of empirical support

Individual-level interventions for alcohol-related violen Expanding targets for inclusion in treatment programs
Mary McMurran

Individual-level interventions for alcohol-related aggression need to be updated. Incorporate treatment components based on recent research. Social information processing is a useful framework. This is an integrative narrative review. Focus on automatic processing, knowledge strucures, emotions, response selection

An exploration of the association between criminal thinking and community program attrition
Damon Mitchell, Raymond Chip Tafrate, Tom Hogan, Mark E. Olver

Analyzed criminal thinking and program attrition in two community programs. Overall levels of criminal thinking higher in non-completers. Disregard for others was strongest pattern in day reporting center non-completers. Demand for excitement was strongest pattern in sober house non-completers. Pattern of results suggest criminal thinking may be related to program responsivity

Is a separate diagnostic category defensible for paraphilic coercion?
Raymond A. Knight, Judith Sims-Knight, Jean-Pierre Guay

MIDSA self-report responses were gathered from 529 sex offenders in MA and MN. EFA, IRT, and taxometrics explored the structure of an Agonistic Continuum. This Continuum is distributed as a dimension, ranging from noncoercion through sadism. No data in the review or analyses supported PCD and sadism as separate disorders. Implications discussed for DSM-5, legal decisions, research, and clinical utility

Disentangling the relationship between delinquency and hyperactivity, low achievement, depression, and low socioeconomic status: Analysis of repeated longitudinal data
Ivy N. Defoe, David P. Farrington, Rolf Loeber

Analyses of longitudinal Pittsburgh Youth Study. Repeated measures from age 11 to age 15. Low academic achievement has the most important influence on delinquency. Hyperactivity and low SES have indirect influences on delinquency via low achievement. Delinquency influences depression rather than the reverse

Evaluating the positive and negative benefits of crime: Development and validation of the Decisional Balance Scale for Adolescent Offenders (DBS-AO)
Mandy J. Jordan, Richard Rogers, Craig S. Neumann, Bradley Norlander

Data from 238 adolescent offenders from a maximum-security institution. Development of the Decisional Balance Scale for Adolescent Offenders (DBS-AO). The DBS-AO resulted in a good fit for a three factor model. The DBS-AO exhibited good construct validity with the Stages of Change Scale.

Dynamic risk assessment: A validation study
Robert D. Morgan, Daryl G. Kroner, Jeremy F. Mills, Catherine Serna, Brendan McDonald

Re-Entry: Dynamic Risk Assessment study examined dynamic predictors of outcomes. Sample consisted of 133 released offenders. 7-wave data collection procedure was used with measures of static and dynamic risk. Obtained adequate reliability but convergent validity of measures were unstable. Dynamic risk factors did not contribute to the predictive power of static variables

Using the Psychopathic Personality Inventory to identify subtypes of antisocial personality disorder
Jennifer Cox, John F. Edens, Melissa S. Magyar, Scott O. Lilienfeld, Kevin S. Douglas, Norman G. Poythress

Study 1 assessed the replicability of previously derived ASPD subtypes. ASPD subtypes differed on theoretical variables and behavioral outcomes. Study 2 evaluated utility of classification system in independent dataset. Groups differed in useful ways including recidivism type and institutional misconduct. Evidence for personality and behavioral differences in ASPD offenders

Antisocial cognition and crime continuity: Cognitive mediation of the past crime-future crime relationship
Glenn D. Walters, Matt DeLisi

Data from 812 members of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Criminality and antisocial cognition measured with self-report items. Antisocial cognition capable of mediating the past crime-future crime relationship. Mediational effect robust to pre-treatment effects of four criminological theories