Browsing by Subject "crime"

Objectives. A relatively small group of people are responsible for disproportionate amount of offenses which cause significant monetary and societal costs. It has been important to recognize different risk and protective factors for chronic offending in youth to develop effective treatment and preventive strategies. One subgroup of offenders who commit many offenses are individuals with high psychopathic traits. However, not all psychopathic individuals commit crimes and some seem well adjusted to society. High intelligence is considered as a protective factor from chronic offending. This study examines the relationship of psychopathic traits and intelligence on juvenile delinquency with seven-year long follow up design. Methods. The data of the study was employed from the Pathways to Desistance longitudinal study which material was collected in between 2000 - 2010. The sample included all male juvenile offenders (n=1170) from the cities of Phoenix and Philadelphia in the United States of America. The participants were 14 - 19 of age at the beginning of the study and 21 - 26 at the end. Psychopathic traits were assessed with PCL:YV and intelligence with WASI. The relationship of psychopathic traits and intelligence on delinquency was examined with binary logistic regression analysis. As well as the moderating effect of intelligence on the relationship between psychopathic traits and delinquency. Delinquency was assessed separately for violent and income related crimes based on the self-report of the participants with SRO method. Results and conclusions. High psychopathic traits were related to a higher risk for both violent and income offending in every measurement year of the seven year follow up. In addition, high psychopathic traits were related to a higher risk for faster rate of recidivism and to the continuity of criminal activity. Intelligence did not have either increasing or decreasing effect on delinquency and it did not have any moderating effect on the relationship between psychopathic traits and delinquency. However, further studies are needed to examine more closely the observed relationships, possible mediating factors and other risk and protective factors for crime. The results indicate that the risk and protective factors for delinquency in youth with high psychopathic traits needs to be intervened as early as possible to achieve effective treatment and preventive results.