FEMALE CRIMINALITY AND THE PREDICTION OF RECIDIVISM - A PROSPECTIVE SIX-YEAR FOLLOW-UP

• NCJ Number: 69192
• Journal: Archives of General Psychiatry Volume: 35 Issue: 2 Dated: (FEBRUARY 1978) Pages: 207-214
• Author(s): R L MARTIN; C R CLONINGER; S B GUZE
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 8 pages
• Grant Number(s): AA-00209
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health, Education, and Welfare
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

THE RESULTS ARE REPORTED OF A PROSPECTIVE 6-YEAR FOLLOWUP STUDY OF CONVICTED FEMALE FELONS TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF SOCIAL, DEMOGRAPHIC, FAMILIAL AND PSYCHIATRIC VARIABLES UPON FEMALE RATES OF RECIDIVISM.

Abstract

THE RECIDIVISM RATES OF A SAMPLE OF 66 FEMALE FELONS SELECTED FROM ALL WOMEN UNDER SUPERVISION IN DISTRICT EIGHT OF THE MISSOURI STATE BOARD OF PROBATION AND PAROLE ON JULY 1, 1969 WERE ANALYZED FROM RECORDS OF ARRESTS AND CONVICTIONS DURING AN AVERAGE 70-MONTH FOLLOW-UP PERIOD, DEFINED AS EXTENDING FROM THE INITIAL EVALUATION TO THE DATE AT WHICH THE CRIMINAL RECORD SHEET WAS CURRENT. THE RISK OF CRIMINAL RECIDIVISM WAS RELATED TO VARIOUS FACTORS OBSERVED AT EARLIER INVESTIGATIVE PHASES. PREDICTOR VARIABLES CONSIDERED INCLUDED DEMOGRAPHIC, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND SOCIAL FACTORS, AS WELL AS PSYCHIATRIC DIAGNOSES AND FAMILIAL PSYCHOPATHOLOGY. WIDE INDIVIDUAL VARIATION IN THE COURSE OF FEMALE CRIMINALITY WAS OBSERVED. PROLONGED SUPERVISION ON PAROLE OR PROBATION APPEARED TO HAVE THERAPEUTIC BENEFIT. THE MOST POWERFUL PREDICTORS OF RECIDIVISM WERE THE DIAGNOSES OF DRUG DEPENDENCE AND ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY, AND A HISTORY OF HOMOSEXUALITY. WHEN THE INTERRELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY, DRUG DEPENDENCE, AND A CRIMINAL RECORD PRIOR TO THE INITIAL OFFENSE WERE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT, THE DIAGNOSIS OF ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY WAS CLEARLY MORE INFORMATIVE THAN THE HISTORY OF A PRIOR CRIMINAL RECORD. ALCOHOLISM HAD ONLY A MINOR EFFECT AS A PREDICTOR OF RECIDIVISM. FAMILIAL CRIMINALITY AND MATERNAL HYSTERIA WERE ALSO ASSOCIATED WITH AN INCREASED RISK OF SERIOUS AND PERSISTENT RECIDIVISM. EDUCATIONAL, MARITAL, AND EMPLOYMENT STATUS CONTRIBUTED TO A LESSER EXTENT, WHILE RACE AND TYPE OF INDEX OFFENSE WERE ONLY SIGNIFICANT WHEN MINOR OFFENSES WERE CONSIDERED. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT PSYCHIATRIC AND FAMILIAL FACTORS APPEAR TO BE THE MOST POWERFUL PREDICTORS OF CRIMINAL PROGNOSIS IN FEMALE FELONS. RESULTS ALSO SUGGEST SIGNIFICANT THERAPEUTIC BENEFIT FROM PROLONGED PAROLE OR PROBATION SUPERVISION. TABLES AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED.