PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

1 percent of the population is responsible for 63 percent of violent crime convictions

2013-12-06
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Örjan Falk
orjan.falk@neuro.gu.se
University of Gothenburg
1 percent of the population is responsible for 63 percent of violent crime convictions The majority of all violent crime in Sweden is committed by a small number of people. They are almost all male (92%) who early in life develops violent criminality, substance abuse problems, often diagnosed with personality disorders and commit large number non-violent crimes. These are the findings of researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy who have examined 2.5 million people in Swedish criminal and population registers.

In this study, the Gothenburg researchers matched all convictions for violent crime in Sweden between 1973 and 2004 with nation-wide population register for those born between 1958 to 1980 (2.5 million).

Of the 2.5 million individuals included in the study, 4 percent were convicted of at least one violent crime, 93,642 individuals in total. Of these convicted at least once, 26 percent were re-convicted three or more times, thus resulting in 1 percent of the population (23,342 individuals) accounting for 63 percent of all violent crime convictions during the study period.

"Our results show that 4 percent of those who have three or more violent crime convictions have psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Psychotic disorders are twice as common among repeat offenders as in the general population, but despite this fact they constitute a very small proportion of the repeat offenders," says Örjan Falk, researcher at Sahlgrenska Academy.

One finding the Gothenburg researchers present is that "acts of insanity" that receive a great deal of mass media coverage, committed by someone with a severe psychiatric disorder, are not responsible for the majority of violent crimes.

According to the researchers, the study's results are important to crime prevention efforts.

"This helps us identify which individuals and groups in need of special attention and extra resources for intervention. A discussion on the efficacy of punishment (prison sentences) for this group is needed as well, and we would like to initiate a debate on what kind of criminological and medical action that could be meaningful to invest in," says Örjan Falk.

Studies like this one are often used as arguments for more stringent sentences and US principles like "three strikes and you're out". What are your views on this?

"Just locking those who commit three or more violent crimes away for life is of course a compelling idea from a societal protective point of view, but could result in some undesirable consequences such as an escalation of serious violence in connection with police intervention and stronger motives for perpetrators of repeat violence to threaten and attack witnesses to avoid life sentences. It is also a fact that a large number of violent crimes are committed inside the penal system".

"And from a moral standpoint it would mean that we give up on these, in many ways, broken individuals who most likely would be helped by intensive psychiatric treatments or other kind of interventions. There are also other plausible alternatives to prison for those who persistently relapse into violent crime, such as highly intensive monitoring, electronic monitoring and of course the continuing development of specially targeted treatment programs. This would initially entail a higher cost to society, but over a longer period of time would reduce the total number of violent crimes and thereby reduce a large part of the suffering and costs that result from violent crimes," says Örjan Falk.

"I first and foremost advocate a greater focus on children and adolescents who exhibit signs of developing violent behavior and who are at the risk of later becoming repeat offenders of violent crime".

The article The 1 % of the population accountable for 63 % of all violent crime convictions, was published in Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology in October.

### Link to the article



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Frequent cell phone use linked to anxiety, lower grades and reduced happiness in students

2013-12-06
Frequent cell phone use linked to anxiety, lower grades and reduced happiness in students Today, smartphones are central to college students' lives, keeping them constantly connected with friends, family and the Internet. Students' cell phones are rarely out of reach ...

Taking probiotics in pregnancy or giving them to infants doesn't prevent asthma

2013-12-06
Taking probiotics in pregnancy or giving them to infants doesn't prevent asthma Taking probiotics has health benefits but preventing childhood asthma isn't one of them, shows newly published research led by medical scientists at the ...

Counting the cost of infertility treatment

2013-12-06
Counting the cost of infertility treatment From drug therapy to IVF, out-of pocket costs can range from $900 to $19,000 per treatment cycle, report researchers in The Journal of Urology® New York, NY, December 6, 2013 – Although the demand for infertility treatment ...

Penn researcher traces the history of the American urban squirrel

2013-12-06
Penn researcher traces the history of the American urban squirrel Until recently, Etienne Benson, an assistant professor in the University of Pennsylvania's Department of History and Sociology of Science, has trained his academic eye on the history of ...

At AGU: Shale sequestration, water for energy & soil microbes

2013-12-06
At AGU: Shale sequestration, water for energy & soil microbes PNNL shares research at world's largest geophysical science meeting SAN FRANCISCO – Scientists from the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will present a variety ...

TSRI scientists: Emerging bird flu strain is still poorly adapted for infecting humans

2013-12-06
TSRI scientists: Emerging bird flu strain is still poorly adapted for infecting humans LA JOLLA, CA—December 5, 2013—Avian influenza virus H7N9, which killed several dozen people in China earlier this year, has not yet acquired the changes needed to infect humans ...

Single microRNA powers motor activity

2013-12-06
Single microRNA powers motor activity Findings have implications for treating severe treatment-refractory epilepsy, says Mount Sinai researcher New research from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai shows that microRNA-128 ...

Slippery fault unleashed destructive Tohoku-Oki earthquake and tsunami

2013-12-06
Slippery fault unleashed destructive Tohoku-Oki earthquake and tsunami First measurement of friction during an earthquake yields surprisingly low value For the first time, scientists have measured the frictional heat produced by the fault slip during ...

Malignant cells adopt a different pathway for genome duplication

2013-12-06
Malignant cells adopt a different pathway for genome duplication Researchers at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, discover how tumour cells solve the problems linked to the replication of their unstable DNA Genomes must be replicated in two copies ...

Resistant against the flu

2013-12-06
Resistant against the flu A genetic defect protects mice from infection with Influenza viruses This news release is available in German. A new study published in the scientific journal PLOS Pathogens points out that mice lacking ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Anna Krylov and Mikhail Yampolsky are the new George Gamow award laureates

Methane from overlooked sources higher than predicted in Osaka

World’s largest rays may be diving to extreme depths to build mental maps of vast oceans

Can we hear gravitational-wave "beats" in the rhythm of pulsars?

New survey shows many are unaware of advancements in obstetrics care

New combination therapy shows promise for aggressive lymphoma resistant to immunotherapy

Photocatalytic olefin double bond cleavage acylation

Unveiling the impact of compound drought and wildfire events on PM2.5 air pollution in the era of climate change

A bioadhesive sponge inspired by mussels and extracellular matrix offers a new way to stop internal bleeding

Poorer health linked to more votes for Reform UK, 2024 voting patterns suggest

Loneliness and social isolation linked to heightened risk of death in those with cancer

Ditch ‘shrink it and pink it’ approach to women’s running shoes, manufacturers urged

Domestic abusers forge ‘trauma bonds’ with victims before violence begins

UK food needs radical transformation on scale not seen since Second World War, new report finds

New AI tool makes medical imaging process 90% more efficient

Nitrogen-fortified nanobiochar boosts soil health and rice productivity

Generative art enhances virtual shopping experience

Fluid-based laser scanning for brain imaging

Concordia study links urban heat in Montreal to unequal greenspace access

Hidden patterns link ribosomal RNAs to genes of the nervous system

Why does losing the Y chromosome make some cancers worse? New $6.5 million NIH grant could provide clues

Xiao receives David W. Robertson Award for Excellence in Medicinal Chemistry

Boron isotopes reveal how nuclear waste glass slowly dissolves over time

Biochar helps Mediterranean vineyards hold water and fight erosion

Checking the quality of materials just got easier with a new AI tool

Does hiding author names make science fairer?

Fatal Attraction: Electric charge connects jumping worm to aerial prey

Rice physicists probe quark‑gluon plasma temperatures, helping paint more detailed picture of big bang

Cellular railroad switches: how brain cells route supplies to build memories

Breast cancer startup founded by WashU Medicine researchers acquired by Lunit

[Press-News.org] 1 percent of the population is responsible for 63 percent of violent crime convictions