Attachment & violent offending: A meta-analysis

Attachment theory provides a useful framework for understanding violence as it acknowledges the importance of both interpersonal and developmental factors. The literature suggests that attachment is associated with violence, but the research evidence is equivocal as to whether insecure attachment was a risk factor for criminality, psychopathology more generally, or both. The current study therefore conducted a systematic review of the literature using meta-analytic methods. Results indicated that insecure attachment was strongly associated with all types of criminality (i.e. sexual offending, violent offending, non-violent offending, and domestic violence) even in the absence of psychopathology. Further sub-group analyses indicated differences in attachment patterns between sexual offenders and violent offenders, for example. The implications of the findings are discussed and suggestions for further research are made.     

Association of serotonin transporter promoter gene polymorphism with violence: relation with personality disorders, impulsivity, and childhood ADHD psychopathology

There is evidence that disturbances in central serotonin (5-HT) function have a role in impulsive aggression, violence, and criminality. A deletion/insertion polymorphism within the 5-HT transporter (5-HTT) promoter gene (5-HTT gene-linked polymorphic region, 5-HTTLPR) is thought to be associated with several psychopathological phenotypes related to disturbed impulse control, anxiety and depression. This study examined the association of the 5-HTTLPR with violent behavior in a sample of 153 male Caucasians referred for a forensic psychiatric examination. We found a significant excess of the short (s) allele and the s/s genotype in patients characterized by recurrent and overt physical violent behavior. This genetic variance explained 5% of the variance of violent behavior. When controlled for the impact of several psychopathologies related to violent behavior, this association was observed in individuals with a history of childhood attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-related symptoms, but not presenting with personality disorder or increased impulsiveness. In conclusion, the results (i). suggest an association between serotonergic dysfunction and violent behavior, (ii). provide evidence for an-at least partial-genetic regulation of violent behavior in a subgroup of male offenders, and (iii). suggest a significant role for 5-HT transporter functionality for violent behavior.     

Does violence beget violence? A critical examination of the literature

Critically examines the "violence breeds violence" hypothesis broadly defined. Organized into seven sections, the literature review includes (a) the abuse breeds abuse hypothesis; (b) reports of small numbers of violent/homicidal offenders; (c) studies examining the relationship of abuse and neglect to delinquency, (d) to violent behavior, and (e) to aggressive behavior in infants and young children; (f) abuse, withdrawal, and self-destructive behavior; and (g) studies of the impact of witnessing or observing violent behavior. A detailed discussion of methodological considerations and shortcomings precedes the review. The author concludes that existing knowledge of the long-term consequences of abusive home environments is limited and suggests that conclusions about the strength of the cycle of violence be tempered by the dearth of convincing empirical evidence. Recommendations are made for further research.     

Shame and aggression: Different trajectories and implications

We review the largely separate literatures on aggression and shame, concluding that both internalized shame and maladaptive shame-regulation are key factors in a number of psychopathologies and that the latter may in turn lead to violent outcomes. Our review is consistent with, and provides further evidence for, the evolutionary and psychobiological links from shame to anger and aggression described in Elison, Garofalo, and Velotti (2014). Within the aggression literature, our analysis of studies on partner violence, incarcerated violent offenders, and personality disorders (Narcissistic, Borderline, Antisocial) focus on the role of shame as a common antecedent to violence. The review includes an introduction to different facets of shame, and goes on to discuss the trajectories that link shame and aggression, with particular regard to self-esteem and rejection sensitivity. We outline the diverse ways through which aggression could be better explained by acknowledging the triggering emotions and the contextual situations that characterize the aggressive act — especially focusing on partner violence. Finally, we argue that shame and shame-regulation should serve as useful points of intervention for reducing violent behavior and its underlying pathology, highlighting implications for both clinical and research purposes.     

Risk and dynamics of violence in Asperger's syndrome: A systematic review of the literature

The main purpose of this article is to delineate findings from a review of the literature on the empirical basis for the existence of a relationship between Asperger's syndrome (AS) and violence risk. A second aim is to examine whether certain characteristics of the disorder may have a higher violence-triggering potential. Results of this review show that there are very few empirical studies that confirm a stable link between AS and violence. Only 11 studies involving 22 patients and 29 violent incidents met the criteria for inclusion in the review after the search of the literature. However, a qualitative analysis of the studies yielded some indications of possible patterns of dynamics of violence that may prove to be typical of persons with AS. A tentative comparison of AS and psychopathy indicated that there may be qualitative differences in the characteristics of violent behavior between the disorders. Suggestions for further research are presented.     

Video game violence: A review of the empirical literature

The popularity of video games, especially violent video games, has reached phenomenal proportions. The theoretical line of reasoning that hypothesizes a causal relationship between violent video-game play and aggression draws on the very large literature on media violence effects. Additionally, there are theoretical reasons to believe that video game effects should be stronger than movie or television violence effects. This paper outlines what is known about the relationship between violent video-game playing and aggression. The available literature on virtual reality effects on aggression is discussed as well. The preponderance of the evidence from the existing literature suggests that exposure to video-game violence increases aggressive behavior and other aggression-related phenomena. However, the paucity of empirical data, coupled with a variety of methodological problems and inconsistencies in these data, clearly demonstrate the need for additional research.     

Video game violence: A review of the empirical literature

The popularity of video games, especially violent video games, has reached phenomenal proportions. The theoretical line of reasoning that hypothesizes a causal relationship between violent video-game play and aggression draws on the very large literature on media violence effects. Additionally, there are theoretical reasons to believe that video game effects should be stronger than movie or television violence effects. This paper outlines what is known about the relationship between violent video-game playing and aggression. The available literature on virtual reality effects on aggression is discussed as well. The preponderance of the evidence from the existing literature suggests that exposure to video-game violence increases aggressive behavior and other aggression-related phenomena. However, the paucity of empirical data, coupled with a variety of methodological problems and inconsistencies in these data, clearly demonstrate the need for additional research.     

Mentalizing Family Violence Part 1: Conceptual Framework

This is the first of two companion papers describing concepts and techniques of a mentalization‐based approach to understanding and managing family violence. We review evidence that attachment difficulties, sudden high levels of arousal, and poor affect control contribute to a loss of mentalizing capacity, which, in turn, undermines social learning and can favor the transgenerational transmission of violent interaction patterns. It is suggested that physically violent acts are only possible if mentalizing is temporarily inhibited or decoupled. However, being mentalized in the context of attachment relationships in the family generates epistemic trust within the family unit and reduces the likelihood of family violence. The implications of this framework for therapeutic work with families are discussed.     

A systematic review of the relationship between impulsivity and violence in persons with psychosis: Evidence or spin cycle?

Individual differences in impulsive traits have been associated with a number of deviant behaviors, and impulsivity has been assumed to play a critical role in the manifestation of violent and other criminal behavior. Despite frequent citations of a positive association between impulsivity and violence in persons with psychosis, conflicting findings in the research literature elicited this systematic review. The main aims were to examine the empirical evidence of the association and to determine whether the research design and measurement used were sufficient for testing a possible causal relationship. Two types of empirical evidence were searched for in keeping with the traditional trait-state dichotomy: documentation of the direct impact of impulsivity on carrying out the violent act (state), and documentation of elevated levels of impulsivity in a person and increased occurrence of violent acts (trait). Searches that were conducted in six databases resulted in one study that supported the association and three that did not. Only 2 out of 22 estimates obtained from bivariate analysis indicated evidence of an impulsivity–violence link. No single study had a design that yielded data on a direct impact of impulsivity on carrying out the violent act (i.e., the state aspect of the association).     

Psychological and criminological factors associated with desistance from violence: A review of the literature

Ample evidence exists that offenders eventually terminate their criminal careers, and this holds true for violent offenders. The causal mechanisms responsible for triggering and maintaining this process remain unclear; meaning that desistance from violence is poorly understood. This comprehensive review of the literature revealed that research in this area is hampered by definitional, operational, and measurement inconsistencies. Several of the conceptual frameworks used to explain desistance from delinquency have not been specifically applied in relation to violence. However, it was found that criminological enquiry suggests that informal social control (e.g., stable relationship and employment) play a role in desistance from violence and that theoretical frameworks which examine both internal and external change seem to show promise as an aid to understanding the desistance process. Psychological research has tended to focus on the role of risk and protective factors in relation to desistance but this, particularly protective factors, is currently under-researched. More knowledge needs to be assembled about how: (1) the mechanics of protective factors mitigate risk of future violence, and (2) how they play a role in the maintenance of violent free behaviors. Findings from criminology and psychology need to be expanded and integrated to extend our understanding of desistance from violence.     

Substance abuse and violence: A review of the literature

Most alcohol and drug use occurs among persons who are not violent. However, alcohol and, to a lesser extent, illicit drugs are present in both offenders and victims in many violent events. The links between psychoactive substances and violence involve broad social and economic forces, the settings in which people obtain and consume the substance, and the biological processes that underlie all human behavior. In the case of alcohol, evidence from laboratory and empirical studies support the possibility of a causal role in violent behavior. Similarly, the psychopharmacodynamics of stimulants, such as amphetamines and cocaine, also suggest that these substances could play a contributing role in violent behavior. On the other hand, most real-world studies indicate that this relationship is exceedingly complex and moderated by a host of factors in the individual and the environment. In addition to psychopharmacological effects, substance use may lead to violence through social processes such as drug distribution systems (systemic violence) and violence used to obtain drugs or money for drugs (economic compulsive violence).     

Understanding violence: Does psychoanalytic thinking matter?

A coherent psychoanalytic theory of violence has been hindered by the very few psychoanalysts who have actually worked with violent patients, by political allegiance to certain psychoanalytic schools of thought, a naïve belief that all violence is typically not intentional, but rather a problem of impulse control, and the lack of understanding of recent neurobiological findings concerning aggression. Although intensive psychoanalytic treatment is usually not appropriate for violent individuals, the authors assert that a comprehensive understanding of violent behavior from a psychoanalytic perspective is of relevance for all mental health practitioners interested in the nature of human aggression. Actual violence is informed by bodily enactments and regressions to primitive subjective states; the effects of trauma on representation and symbolic functioning; the demarcation between affective and predatory violence; and understanding how all of our mental processes, including cognitions, wishes, memories, unconscious phantasies, ego-defenses, and object relations, are originally rooted in the body. The authors review the historical psychoanalytic literature on violence and critique contemporary psychoanalytic theorizing regarding the etiology of violent behavior in the light of some neurobiological research findings. They conclude with treatment recommendations for those clinicians whose patients have been violent toward others.     

Langhinrichsen-Rolling’s Confirmation of the Feminist Analysis of Intimate Partner Violence: Comment on “Controversies Involving Gender and Intimate Partner Violence in the United States”

This article makes four major points in response to Jennifer Langhinrichsen-Rolling’s (2010) review of the intimate partner violence literature. First, the evidence is clear that there is more than one type of intimate partner violence. Second, the feminists are right. Gender is central to the analysis of intimate partner violence, and the coercive controlling violence that most people associate with the term “domestic violence” is perpetrated primarily by men against their female partners. Third, different types of intimate partner violence have different causes, different developmental trajectories, and different consequences. They require different models to understand them. Finally, we need more qualitative research focused on the least understood types of intimate partner violence: violent resistance and situational couple violence.     

A systematic review of primary prevention strategies for sexual violence perpetration

This systematic review examined 140 outcome evaluations of primary prevention strategies for sexual violence perpetration. The review had two goals: 1) to describe and assess the breadth, quality, and evolution of evaluation research in this area; and 2) to summarize the best available research evidence for sexual violence prevention practitioners by categorizing programs with regard to their evidence of effectiveness on sexual violence behavioral outcomes in a rigorous evaluation. The majority of sexual violence prevention strategies in the evaluation literature are brief, psycho-educational programs focused on increasing knowledge or changing attitudes, none of which have shown evidence of effectiveness on sexually violent behavior using a rigorous evaluation design. Based on evaluation studies included in the current review, only three primary prevention strategies have demonstrated significant effects on sexually violent behavior in a rigorous outcome evaluation: Safe Dates (Foshee et al., 2004); Shifting Boundaries (building-level intervention only, Taylor, Stein, Woods, Mumford, & Forum, 2011); and funding associated with the 1994 U.S. Violence Against Women Act (VAWA; Boba & Lilley, 2009). The dearth of effective prevention strategies available to date may reflect a lack of fit between the design of many of the existing programs and the principles of effective prevention identified by Nation et al. (2003).     

Women who perpetrate intimate partner violence: A review of the literature with recommendations for treatment

The purpose of this article is to review the literature on women as perpetrators of violence in their intimate relationships (i.e., domestically violent women) and summarize the scant literature on intervention programs for these women. Particular attention is paid to the cultural influences that shape our conceptualization of “domestic violence” and the fact that empirical research suggests that domestic violence has been falsely framed as exclusively male initiated violence. The article concludes with a discussion of the similarities and differences between male and female domestic violence offenders and identifies areas where treatment for female offenders might be improved.     

Pathways to violence propensity: Results from a two-wave study of young males in urban South Africa

The aim of this study was to model pathways to violence propensity and violent behaviour among boys and young men in a high-violence community in South Africa. To that end, 284 young males (11 to 23 years old) from Khayelitsha, Cape Town self-reported risk for engagement in interpersonal violence and criminality; including within family, peer, and school domains, over a 12 month period. In Structural Equation Modelling, a pathway emerged through which an unstable home environment, influenced by deprivation and violence, affects the quality of parenting. In turn, early deviant associations and attitudes toward violence and gangs are cultivated and may have a deleterious effect on schooling, resulting in greater future substance abuse, greater violence propensity, and offending. These findings support the life course perspective approach, emphasising turning points and human agency in the aetiology of violence.     

Substance use and violent behavior in adolescence

The relation between substance use and violent behavior in adolescence is reviewed, and each of five competing models of this relation is examined. I begin by presenting background material on adolescent substance use and adolescent violence. I then describe five different models that have been proposed to explain the association between substance use and violent behavior. Next, I review the adolescent literature concerning substance use and violence, noting methodological weaknesses that have plagued this research. I conclude with an evaluation of the five models and suggestions for future research.     

Journeys in Gang Masculinity: Insights from International Case Studies of Interventions

ABSTRACT

Drawing on formal interviews and ethnographic participant observation, this paper highlights how effective gang intervention programs can and do supplant negativistic masculine identities based on violent criminality with more positivistic masculine identities based on gainful employment, family life, and desistance. The authors examine how this transition occurs at three prominent gang intervention programs in diverse transnational contexts: Los Angeles, Glasgow, and Copenhagen. In contrast to earlier work, the paper also examines how gang members can revert back to negativistic masculine identities, criminality, and violence when the support that these programs provide is withdrawn.     

Consequences of Violence Exposures by Emergency Nurses

Emergency nurses are among the most likely groups of health care professionals to be exposed to violence. Violence exposure is the witnessing or receiving of a violent act with or without the intention to cause physical or psychological harm. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the literature in relation to emergency nurses' exposure to violence and discuss the implications for emergency nursing practice. A review of the literature was conducted using the keywords violence, emergency nursing, health care workers, and productivity. Emergency nurses exhibited anxiety, vulnerability, guilt, anger, sadness, and peer blaming following violence exposures. Violence exposures affect emergency nurses both physically and psychologically. Interventions should be developed to reduce the negative consequences of violence exposures.     

Primary and secondary prevention programs for dating violence: A review of the literature

Recent research has consistently demonstrated that a significant proportion of dating relationships are characterized by violent interactions. Aggression that occurs in the context of dating relationships is associated with a variety of deleterious effects in the context of the current relationship, and provides a potential trajectory to more severe forms of violence in later relationships. These data have led researchers and practitioners to develop and implement programs designed to prevent such violent dating behaviors. This comprehensive review examines the literature on primary and secondary prevention programs for dating violence, with emphases on methodological and theoretical issues. Ubiquitous limitations of the current research are identified, as well as future directions and implications for researchers and practitioners in the field.