Violent Offenders Understanding and Assessment

Offenders convicted of violent crimes accounted for almost 15,000 (7.5%) of the federal inmate population in recent reports; and, despite the public's perception that the overall crime rate is down, there are indications that rates of violent crime may actually be increasing in certain geographic areas and populations. In response, forensic psychologists are increasingly being called upon to understand the causes of violence, predict violent behavior and the likelihood or recidivism, develop treatment programs, and even assist law enforcement in solving crimes. The assessment of violence is an ever-evolving field of study and the need for updated analysis of personality constructs, etiological links, corollary elements, and tools for violence prediction are of primary import.

Violent Offenders addresses the numerous challenges and issues facing individuals working with this population and provides broad coverage regarding specific groups of violent perpetrators. It looks at a wide-range of topics and offending populations including violent children and adolescents, intimate partner violence, terrorism, sexually based crimes, gang violence, institutional violence, and violence perpetrated by police officers. Skillfully edited by Christina Pietz, a forensic psychologist, and Curtis Mattson, a clinical psychologist, this volume offers insight into current psychological theories of violence and addresses the links, both evident and assumed, between psychological disorders and violence. Chapters are authored by leaders in their fields and cover topics such as the psychiatric treatment of violent behavior, assessment and prediction of risk for future dangerousness, special considerations for ethical conduct, research considerations, and the etiological associations of violence with neurophysiology, substance abuse, and environment. Violent Offenders will benefit clinicians and professionals working in correctional and forensic fields and is appropriate for use in clinical and counseling graduate programs that offer specialized training in correctional and/or forensic psychology and for courses in deviant behavior and setting-specific assessment.

Christina A. Pietz, PhD, ABPP, is a Forensic Psychologist at the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, MO, and at Burrell Behavioral Health. She has completed psychological evaluations for federal courts throughout the United States, and she has testified as an expert witness in federal court, state court, and military court. Dr. Pietz is also Director of Forensic Training at the Forest Institute of Professional Psychology and Past President of the American Board of Forensic Psychology. Currently, she serves on the American Board of Psychology Board of Trustees as the representative for the American Board of Forensic Psychology.

Curtis A. Mattson, PsyD, is a Clinical Psychologist with Burrell Behavioral Health. At Burrell, Dr. Mattson is a member of the research team where he is currently involved in multiple research endeavors in the areas of neuropsychology, substance abuse, psychopathy, and personality assessment.

About the Editors
Contributors

Section I. Overview and Constructs of Violence

1. Psychological Perspectives of Violence
Melanie Schettler

2. Antisocial Behavior among Children in Poverty: Understanding Environmental Effects in Daily Life
Michael A. Russell and Candice L. Odgers

3. Substance Abuse and Violence
Curtis A. Mattson and Christina A. Pietz

4. Major Mental Disorders and Violence
Laura S. Guy and Kevin S. Douglas

5. Aggressive Externalizing Disorders: Conduct Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder, and Psychopathy
Laura E. Drislane, Noah C. Venables, and Christopher J. Patrick

Section II. Special Offender Populations

6. Juvenile Homicide: Trends, Correlates, Causal Factors, and Outcomes
Kathleen M. Heide

7. Physically and Sexually Violent Females
Geoffrey R. McKee and R. Gregg Dwyer

8. Men Who Kill
Bethany K. Walters and Eric W. Hickey

9. Psychological Factors in Intimate Partner Violence
Donald Dutton and Christie Tetreault

10. Perpetrators of Sexual Violence: Demographics, Assessments, Interventions
Alix M. McLearen, Ivonne E. Bazerman, and Katherine Bracken-Minor

11. Under the Color of Authority: Police Officers as Violent Offenders
David M. Corey and Casey O. Stewart

12. Institutional Violence Risk: Theory, Assessment, and Management
Daniel J. Neller and Michael J. Vitacco

13. Youth Gangs: An Overview of Key Findings and Directions for the Future
Terrance J. Taylor and J. Michael Vecchio

14. Understanding Terrorists
Randy Borum

Section III. Evaluative Approach and Special Considerations

15. Legal, Clinical and Scientific Foundations of Violence Risk Assessment
David F. Mrad and Daniel J. Neller

16. Use of Assessment Measures for the Evaluation of Future Risk
Chad A. Brinkley

17. The Structured Professional Judgment Approach to Violence Risk Assessment and Management: Why it is Useful, How to Use it, and its Empirical Support
Kevin S. Douglas and Henrik Belfrage

18. Assessing Facets of Personality and Psychopathology in Violent Offenders
Dustin B. Wygant, Kathryn C. Applegate, and Tina D. Wall

19. Assessing malingering in violent offenders
Holly A. Miller

20. Assessment of Neurophysiological and Neuropsychological Bases for Violence
Rachel Fazio and Robert L. Denney

21. Violence: Psychiatric Assessment and Intervention
Charles Scott, Philip J. Resnick, and William Newman

22. Ethical Considerations and Professional Posture
Kimberly Larson, Robert Kinscherff, and Stacey Goldstein-Dwyer

23. Conducting Research with Special Populations
Gianni Pirelli and Patricia A. Zapf

Index