Behaviour Problems in Childhood and Adolescence in Psychotic Offenders: An Exploratory Study

• NCJ Number: 224158
• Journal: Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health Volume: 18 Issue: 3 Dated: 2008 Pages: 153-165
• Author(s): Kris Goethals; Lisette Willigenburg; Jan Buitelaar; Hjalmar van Marle
• Date Published: 2008
• Length: 13 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This study sought to examine the utility of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) among offenders, with a focus on psychotic offenders in the Netherlands.

Abstract

The work found that there was a significant difference between psychotic offenders with a personality disorder and the nonoffender patients with psychosis on the delinquent behavior scale, but no such difference between psychotic offenders with and without personality disorder. A hierarchic cluster analysis revealed significantly higher scores for externalizing behavior in all Dutch system detainees with a personality disorder. Those starting to offend early had higher scores for externalizing behavior than late starters. This work sought to examine the utility of the Child Behavior Checklist among offenders, test whether externalizing behavior problems as measured by the CBCL were more frequent in psychotic offenders than in nonoffenders with psychosis, and investigate relationships between early behavioral problems and adult personality disorder in psychotic offenders. It is noted that several studies have shown that adults who develop schizophrenia and commit a criminal offence may already have shown behavior problems in childhood or adolescence, but it is less clear whether such problems followed a particular pattern in such patients. The work concluded that psychotic and nonpsychotic offenders with personality disorder resembled one another in their early childhood behavior problems; psychotic offenders without a personality disorder differed from these two groups but resembled nonoffenders with psychosis. In contrast to findings in nonforensic populations, there were no differences on other problem scales of the CBCL. Given the small sample sizes, replication was said to be needed, but the findings lent weight to treatment models which focus on the psychosis in the latter two groups but extend also to personality disorder in the former. Three groups of violent offenders detained under the Dutch Entrustment Act totaling 78 persons and 1 group of 16 psychotic patients in general psychiatry were rated from case records on the CBCL. Tables, references