NCJ Number
100786
Date Published
1985
Length
177 pages
Annotation
This 1984 research study used a multiple case-study ecological approach to elucidate factors associated with the of ''dangerous offender'' since the 1977 enactment of Part XXI, Section 688 of the Canadian Criminal Code.
Abstract
Interviews and tests were used to gather data for 41 of the men, and file information and institutional data were used for 2 men who could not respond due to severe emotional problems. Court transcripts, psychological, medical, personal, and institutional files also were reviewed. These data were compared with data for a comparable group of 43 long-term offenders. Results indicate that the dangerous offenders, relative to the other group, were more middle-class in their socioeconomic status, employment, and domestic orientation. The dangerous offenders' crimes were more likely to be sexual (79 percent as compared to 10 percent for the controls), but were less likely to be violent. The two groups did not differ significantly in intelligence, or diagnosed mental illness. Drugs and alcohol played an overwhelming role in the crimes of the dangerous offenders. Within both groups, offenders could be differentiated by the variables of antisocial personality disorder, cognitive dysfunction, and lifestyle of crime. Cognitive dysfunction was associated with the most violent and impulsive acting-out behaviors in both groups. Finally, only a limited number of dangerous offenders were receiving psychological or psychiatric treatment, although the need for such treatment had been a primary reason for their designation of dangerousness. Treatment recommendations and approximately 280 references.