Background: Research suggests that a small number of persistent violent offenders are responsible for a majority of prison violence and tend to behave violently to a disproportionate amount. However, literature on patterns of violence in juvenile prisoners is limited. Method: In order to explore how subjects engage in violence while incarcerated in the juvenile prison system, the authors will examine both proximal and distal predictors of violent behavior among juveniles in custody. This study adds to the current empirical research by longitudinally examining dynamic risk factors of recurrent violent behavior across a population of juvenile prisoners (Mage = 16.21; 94.8% male) in custody in the Romanian juvenile justice system, starting from their entry date until the end of the follow-up period (Me = 2 years). Results: Results from a series of repeated aggressive events survival analyses show evidence of a long-term deleterious association between pre-incarceration risk factors and poor developmental trajectory associated with violence. Adherence to destructive conduct in prison was consistently influenced by low ability to cope with the prison environment, although education level and family factors also mattered. Implications for prison professionals and forensic practitioners are presented. Conclusion: Recurring aggressive behavior is frequent for individuals who experience complex adverse experiences during childhood, suggesting that screening youths upon their admission into juvenile justice settings should include an assessment of their basic self-regulation needs. A greater focus on longitudinal studies may help improve the screening process and also follow the progress of each juvenile to warrant the efficacy of preventive programs in self-harm, according to their emerging needs.
References
[1]
Arbach-Lucioni, K., Martinez-García, M. and Andrés-Pueyo, A. (2012) Risk Factors for Violent Behavior in Prison Inmates: A Cross-Cultural Contribution. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 39, 1219-1239.
[2]
DeLisi, M., Caudill, J.W., Trulson, C.R., Marquart, J.W., Vaughn, M.G. and Beaver, K.M. (2010) Angry Inmates Are Violent Inmates: A Poisson Regression Approach to Youthful Offenders. Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice, 10, 419-439.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15228932.2010.489861
[3]
Slaby, R.G. and Guerra, N.G. (1988) Cognitive Mediators of Aggression in Adolescent Offenders: I. Assessment. Developmental Psychology, 24, 580-588.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.24.4.580
[4]
Wolfgang, M.E. and Ferracuti, F. (1967) The Subculture of Violence: Towards an Integrated Theory in Criminology. Tavistock Publications, London.
[5]
Arsenio, W.F. and Gold, J. (2006) The Effects of Social Injustice and Inequality on Children’s Moral Judgments and Behavior: Towards a Theoretical Model. Cognitive Development, 21, 388-400. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogdev.2006.06.005
[6]
Cornell, D.G., Warren, J., Hawk, G., Stafford, E., Oram, G. and Pine, D. (1996) Psychopathy in Instrumental and Reactive Violent Offenders. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64, 783-790. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006x.64.4.783
[7]
Raine, A., Moffitt, T.E., Caspi, A., Loeber, R., Stouthamer-Loeber, M. and Lynam, D. (2005) Neurocognitive Impairments in Boys on the Life-Course Persistent Antisocial Path. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 114, 38-49.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843x.114.1.38
[8]
Fabian, J.M. (2010) Neuropsychological and Neurological Correlates in Violent and Homicidal Offenders: A Legal and Neuroscience Perspective. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 15, 209-223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2009.12.004
[9]
Smithmyer, C.M., Hubbard, J.A. and Simons, R.F. (2000) Proactive and Reactive Aggression in Delinquent Adolescents: Relations to Aggression Outcome Expectancies. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 29, 86-93.
https://doi.org/10.1207/S15374424jccp2901_9
[10]
Muris, P., Meesters, C., Morren, M. and Moorman, L. (2004) Anger and Hostility in Adolescents: Relationships with Self-Reported Attachment Style and Perceived Parental Rearing Styles. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 57, 257-264.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3999(03)00616-0
[11]
Muniz, C.N., Fox, B., Miley, L.N., Delisi, M., Cogarran, G.P. and Birnbaum, A. (2019) The Effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Internalizing versus Externalizing Outcomes. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 46, 568-589.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854819826213
[12]
Ellis, L., Farrington, D. and Hoskin, A. (2019) Handbook of Crime Correlates. 2nd Edition, Academic Press, Cambridge.
[13]
Wheeler, S. (1961) Socialization in Correctional Communities. American Sociological Review, 26, 697-712. https://doi.org/10.2307/2090199
[14]
Walters, G.D. (2008) Criminal Predatory Behavior in the Federal Bureau of Prisons. In: DeLisi, M. and Conis, P.J., Eds., Violent Offenders: Theory, Research, Public Policy, and Practice, Jones and Bartlett, Boston, 191-204.
[15]
Walters, G.D. (2003) Changes in Criminal Thinking and Identity in Novice and Experienced Inmates: Prisonization Revisited. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 30, 399-421. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854803253137
[16]
Chapman, J.F., Desai, R.A., Falzer, P.R. and Borum, R. (2006) Violence Risk and Race in a Sample of Youth in Juvenile Detention: The Potential to Reduce Disproportionate Minority Confinement. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 4, 170-184.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1541204006286316
[17]
Duenkel, F. (2014) Juvenile Justice Systems in Europe—Reform Developments between Justice, Welfare and ‘New Punitiveness’. Kriminologijos Studijos, 1, 31-76.
[18]
NAP (2014) Raport Anual de Activitate 2014. Ministry of Justice-National Administration of Penitentiary’s Office, Bucharest.
[19]
Baias, C.-V. and Beckwith-Finnegan, J. (2021) The Epidemiology of Self-Harm in the Romanian Juvenile Prison System: A Two-Year Cohort Study. Open Journal of Epidemiology, 11, 371-389.
[20]
Bebbington, P., Jakobowitz, S., McKenzie, N., et al. (2017) Assessing Needs for Psychiatric Treatment in Prisoners: 1. Prevalence of Disorder. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 52, 221-229. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-016-1311-7
[21]
Derogatis, L.R., Lipman, R.S. and Covi, L. (1973) SCL-90: An Outpatient Psychiatric Rating Scale-Preliminary Report. Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 9, 13-28.
[22]
Bowler, N., Phillips, C. and Rees, P. (2018) The Association between Imported Factors and Prisoners Mental Health: Implications for Adaptation and Intervention. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 57, 61-66.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2018.01.001
[23]
Hosmer, D., Lemeshow, S. and May, S. (2009) Applied Survival Analysis. 2nd Edition, Wiley-Interscience, Hoboken.
[24]
Amorim, L.D. and Cai, J. (2015) Modelling Recurrent Events: A Tutorial for Analysis in Epidemiology. International Journal of Epidemiology, 44, 324-333.
https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyu222
[25]
Lawless, J. and Nadeau, C. (1995) Some Simple Robust Methods for the Analysis of Recurrent Events. Technometrics, 37, 158-168.
[26]
Rhule-Louie, D.M. and McMahon, R.J. (2007) Problem Behaviour and Romantic Relationships: Assortative Mating, Behaviour Contagion and Desistance. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 10, 53-100.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-006-0016-y
[27]
Yexley, M., Borowsky, I. and Ireland, M. (2002) Correlation between Different Experiences of Intrafamilial Physical Violence and Violent Adolescent Behavior. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 17, 707-720.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260502017007001
[28]
Rivlin, A., Hawton, K., Marzano, L. and Fazel, S. (2013) Psychosocial Characteristics and Social Networks of Suicidal Prisoners: Towards a Model of Suicidal Behaviour in Detention. PLoS ONE, 8, e68944. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0068944
[29]
Baumer, E.P., O’Donnell, I. and Hughes, N. (2009) The Porous Prison: A Note on the Rehabilitative Potential of Visits Home. The Prison Journal, 89, 119-126.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0032885508330430
[30]
Morgan, A.B. and Lilienfeld, S.O. (2000) A Meta-Analytic Review of the Relation between Antisocial Behaviour and Neuropsychological Measures of Executive Function. Clinical Psychology Review, 20, 113-136.
https://doi.org/10.1016/s0272-7358(98)00096-8
[31]
Frick, P.J. and White, S.F. (2008) Research Review: The Importance of Callous-Unemotional Traits for Developmental Models of Aggressive and Antisocial Behaviour. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49, 359-375.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01862.x
[32]
Gottfredson, M.R. and Hirschi, T. (1990) A General Theory of Crime. Stanford University Press, Redwood City.
