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Abstract
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From a sample of 1,956 adolescent delinquents referred to us by the court for physical, psychological, psychiatric, educational, and social examinations, 71 delinquents convicted of homicide were matched with 71 nonviolent delinquents by age, race, sex, and socioeconomic status (SES). These two groups were compared on the basis of these evaluations by stepwise discriminant analysis, matched pairs, two-tailed t-tests, and nonparametric tests. Adolescents who kill have a tetrad of symptoms: (1) criminally violent family members; (2) gang membership; (3) severe educational difficulties; and (4) alcohol abuse.
VioLit summary
OBJECTIVE:
The objective of this study by Busch et al. was to compare a group of homicidal adolescents with nonviolent delinquents on physical, psychological, psychiatric, and social characteristics.
METHODOLOGY:
This was a quasi-experimental cross-sectional study of 71 juveniles convicted of homicide and a matched control group of 71 nonviolent juvenile delinquents. The groups were matched by age, race, sex, and SES. The group of homicidal juveniles represented all 1,956 homicidal delinquents referred to the agency by the court for whom there were complete records, but not all 27,595 homicidal delinquents processed by the court. The age, race, sex, and family composition of the population, sample, and the two groups of delinquents combined were similar. Medical histories and physical examinations were performed by pediatricians; intellectual and perceptual testing was conducted by utilizing the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children; psychological testing was done by five different psychologists; educational assessment was performed using the Gates MacGinitie Reading Tests and Stanford Achievement Tests; developmental and disruptive behavioral disorders were classified by two psychologists using Diagnostic Statistical Manual III-Revised and the American Association of Mental Deficiency criteria. In addition, psychiatric examination of the subject and family members was performed using an unstandardized method. An additional group of 194 juveniles out of the 1956 was randomly selected for analysis by two clinicians using the four symptoms: a criminally violent family member, physical abuse, active gang participation, substance abuse, and diagnostic category. The interobserver agreement for the data was accurate to p<.01. "Stepwise discriminant analysis was used to determine which of the variables contributed to the significant differences (p<.05)." Criminal characteristics of juveniles for inclusion within each group were independent. No significant differences were found when the analysis was performed with or without dummy coding of the ordinal variables. Discriminant analysis was also used. "No significant differences in the interpretation of the results were found when the matched pairs, the two-tailed t-tests of the ordinal variables, or the nonparametric tests of the nominal variables or the multivariate analysis of covariance with age as the covariate or the multiple comparison logistic regression analysis were performed."
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
Sixty-eight percent of the homicidal adolescents had three or more of the following four symptoms: 1) criminally violent family member (58% of juvenile murderers vs. 20% of matched non-violent; 2) gang membership (41% of juvenile murderers vs. 14% of matched non-violent); 3) alcohol abuse (38% of juvenile murderers vs. 24% of matched non-violent) and 4) severe education difficulties (21% of juvenile murderers vs. 10% of matched non-violent). Other differences between the juvenile murderers and non-violent delinquents included epilepsy (7% vs. 1%), CNS conditions (7% vs. 1%), hallucinations (1% vs. 0%), overdoses (0% vs. 1%), and physical abuse (25% vs. 20%).
AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS:
Knowledge of these four primary symptoms could alert judges, clinicians, and educators who work with homicidal adolescents. (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 - Juvenile Offender
KW - Juvenile Violence
KW - Juvenile Homicide
KW - Early Adolescence
KW - Late Adolescence
KW - Homicide Offender
KW - Family History
KW - Offender Nonoffender Comparison
KW - Comparative Analysis
KW - Violence Causes
KW - Homicide Causes
KW - Demographic Factors
KW - Offender Characteristics
KW - Juvenile Gang
KW - Parent Criminality
KW - Juvenile Substance Use
KW - Alcohol Use Effects
KW - Substance Use Effects
KW - School Achievement
KW - Epilepsy
Language: en |