Childhood antecedents of serious violence in adult male offenders

Abstract

Prospective longitudinal studies have shown strong predictions from conduct disorders (CDs) in childhood to antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and violence in adults. However, little is known of the childhood antecedents of serious violence nor whether these may vary depending on the context in which the violence occurs. In this study, 54 men aged 21-40 years serving prison sentences for violent crime were assessed. Standardized interviews of ASPD and violence were conducted independently of interviews covering retrospective recall of childhood psychiatric disorders and adverse experiences. Analyses of the predictors of overall violence suggested a pathway involving childhood CD and adult ASPD associated with interparental discord, and an additional pathway associated with experiencing interparental violence in childhood. Different results were however obtained when account was taken of the context of the violence. The CD-ASPD pathway was associated with social violence, but not with partner violence. Partner violence was predicted by retrospective reports of having been exposed to interparental violence during childhood but not by reports of childhood CD or adult ASPD. Thus developmental pathways to serious violence may be different depending on the social domain in which the violence occurs.

Second-Generation Prisoners and the Transmission of Domestic Violence

“…The relation between generation status and reported injury by a partner was mediated by the higher levels of exposure to domestic violence evident within the second-generation cohort. Consistent with previous research (Hill & Nathan, 2008;Kalmuss, 1984), exposure to childhood domestic violence was predictive of a prisoner's inflicting on and receiving injury from an intimate partner. In comparison with Kalmuss's (1984) intergenerational study of severe marital aggression, our findings are unique in that we revealed distinctions between minor and severe violence.…”

“…The theoretical underpinnings of intergenerational violence transmission are rooted in social learning theory (Bandura, 1977;Dannerbeck, 2005;Murrell et al, 2007), which posits that when a parent models violent behavior, the child learns and adopts similar conflict-resolution strategies (Kalmuss, 1984). This theory has been supported by several general population studies of intergenerational violence (Ehrensaft et al, 2003;Kalmuss, 1984), as well as within prisonerspecific samples (Hill & Nathan, 2008). In particular, Kalmuss's (1984) research suggests that intimate partner violence is adopted as a role-specific strategy, in that intergenerational violence transmission is more likely to occur when a child has witnessed parental violence, as opposed to when a child is a victim of parental physical abuse in a home.…”

Associations of monoamine oxidase A gene first exon methylation with sexual abuse and current depression in women

“…Male offenders with ASPD showed hypermethylation in this region relative to healthy men, which was associated with whole-blood serotonin levels among offenders and reduced transcriptional activity in vitro (Checknita et al 2015). However, it is not known if hypermethylation is specifically associated with ASPD or with maltreatment that is common among men with ASPD (Hill and Nathan 2008), or substance use disorders that characterize almost all men with ASPD (Goldstein et al 2017), or anxiety disorders presented by approximately half of male offenders with ASPD (Hodgins et al 2010), or depression that is also elevated in this population (Lenzenweger et al 2007). Hypomethylation of this region was observed among women with depression (Melas et al 2013; Melas and Forsell 2015) and those with panic disorder relative to healthy women (Ziegler et al 2016).…”

Does controlling for comorbidity matter? DSM‐oriented scales and violent offending in chicago youth

“…This scale was purposefully omitted in this model owing to multicollinearity and tautology issues raised when examining youth violence outcomes, as CD is characterized by four groupings of aggressive behavior which violate societal rules and the rights of others (including physical violence to other people or animals, weapon use to commit other crimes or threaten victims, forced sexual activity, etc.). However, because CD plays a major role in the literature on mental health and aggression/ violence pathways and is a common subsequent diagnosis for children with ODP [American Psychiatric Association, 2000; Lahey and Loeber, 1994;Loeber et al, 1991], it is included in the present discussion when applicable, as it relates to both the continuity and stability of disruptive behaviors and the developmental progression of co-occurring mental health problems into adulthood [see Frick, 1998;Hill and Nathan, 2008]. Similarly, it should be noted that while substance abuse and use disorder has a wellknown and robust association with other forms of mental illness and antisocial behaviors [see e.g., Arseneault et al, 2000;Loeber et al, 1998], we were precluded from operationalizing such measures because Achenbach and associates have not created a DSM-oriented scale for this type of disorder in youth.…”