Profiling Assessing Dangerousness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRxYaK9fgl8

Frequency

• One of the best predictors of future violent behavior is past violent behavior. If an individual has had five or more offenses, he is already considered an exceptionally high risk. Also, even if there are less than 5 offenses, if the time between them is short, that is also considered a high risk.

Example

• Richard Ramirez– Was taught how to kill

by his cousin– Got in fights at school– Started to rape women

at job– “Graduated” to rape

murder after that.

Age

• The most violent members of society are people under the age of 35 years. The earlier the onset of violent behavior, the stronger the correlation for future violence.

Gender

• Most violent offenders are males. They are responsible for most murders. The only exception is violence towards children.

• Women on the other hand kill for a longer period of time and usually only go after family members.

Personality Disorders

• Abnormal behavior that is not classified as mental disorders can be characterized as personality disorders. The personality disorder most commonly associated with criminal behavior is the Antisocial Personality. People with this disorder have no conscience and show no guilt or shame over their behavior. This particular personality type is considered the most dangerously violent.

Example • Jeffery Dahmer

diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. However, he was still found competent to stand trial for his 17 murders. He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison, but ended up being murdered by a fellow inmate.  

Major Psychosis

• Severe untreated disturbances of thought can contribute to violent behavior, especially if an individual has delusions (false beliefs) about persecution. An individual’s history of violence will be examined if diagnosed with a psychosis.

Example• the inspiration for some of

the scariest fictional killers, including Norman Bates and Leatherface. After being charged with the murder and mutilation of multiple victims, he was deemed unfit for trial and diagnosed with schizophrenia. Ten years later, he faced trial and was found guilty, but spent the rest of his days in a mental hospital

Substance Abuse

• Drugs and alcohol are commonly involved with criminal activity. Oftentimes, people are abusing substances at the time of the commission of their offenses and many crimes are related to the purchase or sale of drugs. Statistics reveal that the correlation between domestic abuse and alcohol is high.

Availability of Weapons

• A person’s access to weapons is always a concern when determining dangerousness. When weapons are available, violence can easily escalate to more lethal forms.

• This is often considered by a judge when determining bail.

Absence of Social Supports

• Social isolation increases the degree and number of some types of violence. For example, people with no family connections or strong social bonds are more apt to engage in drug use. Also, in the case of domestic violence, the abuser often isolates the family from others to prevent discovery.

Example

• Ted kaczynski

Availability of Victims

• For certain types of violence, the lack of “choice” victims reduces the episodes of violence. For example, if a child molester is denied access to children, the potential for abuse declines.