RESUMEN
To date, systematic studies of sexual homicides from Europe are scarce, in which none have been conducted in Sweden. This study aims to describe male-on-female sexual homicides in Sweden and differentiate from corresponding nonsexual homicides. Unsolved and solved sexual homicide (n = 33) cases were identified in a database containing all homicides in Sweden between 1990 and 2013 (N = 2,126), and subsequently data from forensic psychiatric evaluations were collected for convicted offenders. Male-on-female sexual homicides constituted 1.6% of all homicides and the clearance rate was 82%, which is comparable with the 83% overall clearance rate but took longer time to solve. Three factors differentiated sexual from nonsexual homicides: strangulation, younger age of the victim, and the absence of eyewitnesses. In solved cases, distance from the offender's home to the crime scene was strongly correlated with time to clearance. A majority of the offenders suffered from personality disorders, while other diagnoses were uncommon.
Asunto(s)
Víctimas de Crimen/legislación & jurisprudencia , Víctimas de Crimen/estadística & datos numéricos , Criminales/legislación & jurisprudencia , Criminales/estadística & datos numéricos , Homicidio/legislación & jurisprudencia , Homicidio/estadística & datos numéricos , Delitos Sexuales/legislación & jurisprudencia , Delitos Sexuales/estadística & datos numéricos , Adolescente , Adulto , Víctimas de Crimen/psicología , Criminales/psicología , Femenino , Psiquiatría Forense , Homicidio/psicología , Humanos , Incidencia , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Trastornos de la Personalidad/diagnóstico , Trastornos de la Personalidad/epidemiología , Trastornos de la Personalidad/psicología , Estudios Retrospectivos , Factores Sexuales , Delitos Sexuales/psicología , SueciaRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: In Sweden, the number of people serving life sentences has steadily increased. To date, few studies have examined the recidivism rate or the predictive validity of different risk assessment instruments in this group. AIMS: Our aim was to test the predictive validity among inmates serving life sentences of two different instruments used for assessing risk--the Historical, Clinical and Risk Management-20 (HCR-20), most widely used in clinical populations, and the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), commonly applied in both penal and clinical settings. METHOD: Ninety-eight life-sentenced prisoners were included, 26 of whom were released during the study period. Data on risk assessments and dates for release were collected from administrative records, while recidivism data were retrieved from a national database on criminal convictions. RESULTS: Sex offenders obtained the highest scores and inmates charged with domestic violent offences obtained the lowest scores on both instruments. The released prisoners were followed for a mean period of 33 months. During this time five prisoners (19%) reoffended, four of them violently, with an average time to recidivism of 10 months. Only PCL-R Facet 4, which reflects antisocial features, was significantly associated with recidivism. CONCLUSIONS: This small, but population-based, study demonstrates that antisocial behaviour shows incremental predictive validity for reoffending among life-sentenced offenders, but other measures have little to add for this specific task. The fact that those life sentenced prisoners who reoffended did so so soon after release should prompt allocation of earlier interventions towards preventing this.
Asunto(s)
Lista de Verificación/normas , Criminales/psicología , Prisioneros/psicología , Delitos Sexuales/etnología , Encuestas y Cuestionarios/normas , Violencia/prevención & control , Adulto , Anciano , Trastorno de Personalidad Antisocial , Violencia Doméstica , Predicción , Humanos , Persona de Mediana Edad , Estudios Retrospectivos , Medición de Riesgo , Suecia , Violencia/tendenciasRESUMEN
The clearance rates for homicides have decreased internationally. This retrospective population-based study of all Swedish homicide incidents between 2007 and 2009 (n=264) aims to investigate factors associated with solvability in homicides. Victims were identified in an autopsy registry and offenders in a criminal-conviction registry. Autopsy reports, police files, court verdicts and criminal records were systematically collected and linked. The clearance rate was 86.4% (n=228), and almost three quarters of cases (71.9%) were solved within the first week. Nine factors were significantly associated with the case status; however, only four factors remained significant in the multivariate logistic-regression model. Cases were more likely to be solved if there was an eyewitness and if the victim was intoxicated with alcohol. Moreover, cases were less likely to be solved if the victim had a criminal record in the past five years and was killed by a firearm. In the final model, a Cox proportional-hazards model, where time to arrest was taken into account, only alcohol intoxication were positively and firearms negatively significantly associated with clearance status. The study concludes that cases involving these factors should be granted extra, intensive and lasting resources.
Asunto(s)
Derecho Penal , Homicidio/legislación & jurisprudencia , Homicidio/estadística & datos numéricos , Adolescente , Adulto , Anciano , Intoxicación Alcohólica/epidemiología , Niño , Preescolar , Víctimas de Crimen , Femenino , Ciencias Forenses , Humanos , Lactante , Recién Nacido , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Análisis Multivariante , Modelos de Riesgos Proporcionales , Sistema de Registros , Estudios Retrospectivos , Suecia/epidemiología , Factores de Tiempo , Carga de Trabajo , Heridas por Arma de Fuego/mortalidad , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
Although typically described as reliable and valid, the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) has come under some criticism by researchers in the last half-decade due to evidence of poor interrater reliability and adversarial allegiance being reported in applied settings in North America. This study examines the field reliability of the PCL-R using a naturalistic test-retest design among a sample of Swedish life sentenced prisoners (N = 27) who had repeatedly been assessed as part of their application to receive a reduced prison term. The prisoners, who were assessed by a team of forensic evaluators retained by an independent government authority, had spent on average 14 years in prison with a mean time from Assessment 1 to Assessment 2 of 2.33 years. The overall reliability of the PCL-R (ICC(A1)) was .70 for the total score and .62 and .76 for Factor 1 and 2 scores, respectively. Facet 1-3 scores ranged from .54 to .60, whereas Facet 4 was much higher (.90). Reliability of individual items was quite variable, ranging from .23 to .80. In terms of potential causes of unreliability, both high and low PCL-R scores at the initial assessment tended to regress toward the mean at the time of the second evaluation. Our results are in line with previous research demonstrating concerns regarding the reliability of the PCL-R within judicial settings, even among independent evaluation teams not retained by a particular side in a case. Collectively, these findings question whether the interpersonal (Facet 1) and affective (Facet 2) features tapped by the PCL-R are reliable enough to justify their use in legal proceedings.