Pathways to violent and non-violent criminality in an adolescent psychiatric population.
In a Norwegian follow-up study of former adolescent psychiatric in-patients 222 patients who had committed violent crimes were compared to 287 patients who had committed non-violent crimes only. There were numerous significant differences between the criminal careers of violent and non-violent criminals. Individuals with a history of violent criminality only were uncommon and uncharacteristic of violent criminals in general. Regression analyses identified several strong and independent correlates of violent criminality. The study supported a division of antisocial behavior into violent and non-violent sub-groups, thus paralleling a concept of overt and covert pathways to delinquent behavior. The overt pathway seemed to be imbedded in the covert pathway.
Center for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Oslo, Box 26 Vinderen, N-0319 Oslo, Norway. ellen.kjelsberg@psykiatri.uio.no
Ellen
E
Kjelsberg
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003415:Crime / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D014754:Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*