Serious violent crime, including homicide, attempted murder and grievous bodily harm, has recently increased in England and Wales, together with the need to identify, and efficiently intervene with, perpetrators at risk of future violent offending. Research has highlighted, in particular, the importance of gathering more information on female serious violent offenders, making comparisons between serious violent male and female perpetrators, and examining different types of serious violent criminals. The overall purpose of this thesis, therefore, was to add to our existing understanding of serious violent offenders, thereby, hopefully, informing current debates and under researched areas, and assisting practitioners within the criminal justice system. Within this context, the main objectives of the thesis were to (i) examine the extent to which subgroups of offenders differ according to offender characteristics (age, gender) and criminal history information (offending frequency, chronicity, crime types); (ii) determine the extent to which serious violent offenders specialise in criminality and how this may differ between subgroups; (iii) explore the relationships between the diversity index, frequency of offending, the age at the first criminal offence, and the age at the serious violent offence; and (iv) assess the variables deemed to significantly predict future serious violent outcomes. A quantitative, retrospective approach was taken using archival data provided by Devon and Cornwall Police Force; this included 10-years of crimes recorded in the borough between April 2001 and March 2011. Descriptive and comparative analyses explored the subgroups of serious violent offenders, and matched-case controls. Serious violent perpetrators had a higher offending frequency and were more likely to have previously committed violent crime; this was also the case for the male and female control comparisons. Furthermore, the male control sample were more likely to have a prior conviction for sexual offences, and female controls were more likely to commit theft and property crime. In addition, serious violent males were statistically more likely to have been previously convicted for violent, and a mixture of non-violent, crimes, compared to serious violent females. Also, attempted murder and homicide offenders were older and more likely to have committed violence, and perpetrators of grievous bodily harm were more likely to have a conviction for burglary or theft offences. No significant findings emerged in terms of the levels of chronicity. Pockets of specialisation were detected within the groups of serious violent perpetrators, yet diversity was significantly more likely to be exhibited amongst serious violent subgroups. Relationships were also found between diversity and a higher offending frequency, age at first offence and age at serious violent crime. Importantly, age at the first serious violent crime and types of offences in the criminal history emerged as significant factors in predictive models of future serious violence. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, with recommendations for future research.

My overall aim within this thesis is to tackle a neglected area within criminological thought, that of male 'Fear of Crime'. My interest originated from the notion of a disparity between levels of 'fear' reported by men and women. Hough and Mayhew (1983) found that it was young working class men, particularly those that frequented pubs and clubs that were most at risk from personal attack albeit women and the elderly expressed most anxiety. This led to the depiction of those 'fears' that did not correspond to objective levels of risk as being 'irrational'. I suggest that in reality, these so called gender disparities 1 are attributable to the way in which 'fear' has been researched, most commonly by victim surveys, which exclude the particularities of experience and context. The aforementioned assumptions about men's 'fearlessness' of crime can be attributed, in part, to the dearth of information on the subject. There has been a prevalent assumption that men are naturally reticent and reluctant to discuss feelings/experiences (see Stanko and Hobdell 1993: 400). What is missing from the literature is a qualitative study that examines men's concerns around crime. I suggest that 'fear' cannot actually be 'measured', although men can be asked to recall 'fearful' moments. Consequently, this research focuses on the recalling of 'fearful' moments, the constructions of 'risk' grounded in experiences of victimization and those that are purely hypothetical. It is also important to provide men with opportunities to discuss other concerns because it is recognized that the 'Fear of Crime' can serve as an idiom for other insecurities (Merry, 1981). This might be particularly true for men because they may be less likely to be asked or expected to express 'fears' and concerns around crime. This research is aimed at addressing this gap in the literature by taking a qualitative approach that uses depth interviews to enable respondents to discuss concerns more broadly. The research is set within a particular geographical area and includes three age categories to discern whether there are differences in the masculine identities of my respondents at different life stages. If such differences do exist then, the question is, what impact do these have on concerns and 'fears' around crime and 'incivilities'?² In this way my study examines how men achieve masculine identities and concludes that concerns around crime and incivilities are intimately bound up with them as men.

Approximately 30% of offenders are intellectually disabled, yet little is known about effective treatment with this group. The aim of this thesis is to advance our understanding of intellectually disabled sexual offenders (IDSOs) through the development and evaluation of a treatment programme, Becoming New Me (BNM). The Risk, Need and Responsivity (RNR) model (Andrews et al., 1990) is the only empirically validated model of offender rehabilitation. Meta analytic studies have shown that the RNR principles apply to various offender populations, including sexual offenders, but no work has looked at their relevance to IDSOs. As such, the research question in this thesis is; can the RNR model be successfully applied to the treatment of IDSOs? The literature pertaining to each principle and its applicability to IDSOs is reviewed and the development of the BNM in line with the findings is described. In order to evaluate the success of the BNM approach, and thereby assess the utility of the RNR model, an outcome and a process evaluation were undertaken. The research involved 131 BNM programme completers and focus group discussions with 19 BNM participants and 20 therapists. In order to assess criminogenic needs, eight assessment measures were developed and found to have acceptable psychometric properties. Change was observed in the hypothesised direction on most of the measures irrespective of risk, IQ, age or offence type. Where change in the desired direction was not found, explanations are offered. The results of the process evaluation reveal that the treatment experience for BNM participants and therapists was generally positive. Further, this research provides new insights into the factors which are relevant to responsivity in the treatment of IDSOs. It is concluded that the RNR model is applicable to the treatment of IDSOs. Possible recommendations for practice and further research are identified but limitations are recognised.

The ‘What works’ literature has revealed valuable information over the years regarding the effectiveness of prison programmes; however, the prison population and rate of reoffending within the United Kingdom still remains significantly high. The cost of reoffending to the taxpayer is estimated to be £9.5-13 billion per annum. Much research has been carried out on Offending Behaviour Programmes, which have obtained ‘Accreditation’ status from the Correctional Panel of Accreditation and as a result are implemented and delivered in many prisons throughout the country. The majority of these programmes mirror those created by the Canadian School of clinical and correctional psychologists in the 1980s, yet over 30 years later only minor alterations have been made while the prison population continues to grow. This doctoral research takes a step away from accredited programmes and instead considers interventions that are more up-to-date, less structured and lacking the ‘accreditation’ status. It draws on empirical research and takes a closer look at ‘nonaccredited’ programmes in particular. It applies a qualitative approach in exploring the views and opinions of those directly involved in the selection, facilitation and participation of these programmes. It outlines some of the key findings, which relate to the design and delivery of prison interventions and highlights the need for range, innovation and flexibility in the delivery of programmes, from one prison to another. It also discusses the areas that programme participants feel are most important in obtaining positive outcomes. Within the methodology section, the thesis takes into consideration the ‘overly complex’ process researchers face when attempting to gain access to establishments to carry out essential prison research. These time-consuming procedures and ‘hoops’ researchers have to go through put many PhD theses and other prison studies in jeopardy. Questions arise, then, about the need for so much ‘red tape’ and the reasons behind gatekeeper’s denial of access. The thesis concludes by arguing that where a prisoner is sent, what programmes are on offer, along with the motivations of the facilitators and the atmosphere created, are factors which significantly contribute to an offender’s journey towards rehabilitation and desistance from crime. It concludes that prison programme provision is a ‘Rehabilitation Lottery’.

This thesis contributes to the internationalisation of criminological knowledge about gender and crime through a cross-national analysis of female ex-offenders' qualitative experiences of crime and criminal justice in two European countries; Sweden and England. Grounded in a feminist methodological framework, the study draws on 24 life-story narrative interviews with 12 repeat female offenders in Sweden and 12 in England, who, at the time of the interview, self-identified as desisters. Three major phases of the female journey through crime and criminal justice are represented in the study, namely; the female pathway into crime, the female experience of criminal justice and lastly, the female route out of crime. Some cross-national symmetry is detected across the samples, particularly in the areas of female experiences of gendered victimisation and issues around short custodial sentences. Overall; however, the findings demonstrate that diverse macro-processes and models, especially in terms of 'inclusive' versus 'exclusive' penal cultures, effectually 'trickle down' and produce distinctly different female micro-experiences of crime and criminal justice in Sweden and England. Providing new qualitative evidence of the 'Nordic Exceptionalism thesis’, the findings indicate that, comparatively, the Swedish model offers a macro-context, supported and reflected in allied meso-practices, which is more conducive to the formation of lasting female routes out of crime and into active participation in 'mainstream' society. The principal qualitative mechanisms that underpin this argument, identified as distinctive to the Swedish model through the cross-national thematic analysis, include: (1) a more robust infrastructure supporting individual change, exemplified in high-quality drugs and alcohol provisions; (2) lived experiences of legitimacy and trust in criminal justice interactions, encouraging less conflictual relations between the individual and authorities; (3) the impact of normalisation ideals and practices within criminal justice processes, ultimately enabling a smoother transition out from the system, and lastly; (4) subjective experiences of more accessible and attractive routes into participation and inclusion, including structured and holistic investments in quality employment support.

The present thesis explored the capability of connectionist models to break through the 'glass ceiling' of accuracy currently in operation in recidivism prediction (e.g., Yang, Wong, & Coid, 2010). Regardless of the inclusion of dynamic items, all risk measures rarely exceed .75 in terms of the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) (Hanley & McNeil, 1982). This may reflect the emphasis of multiple regression equations on main effects of a few key variables tapping long-term anti-social potential. Connectionist models, not used in criminal justice, represent a promising alternative means of combining predictors given their ability to model interactions automatically. To promote learning from other fields a systematic review of the literature on the application of connectionist models to operational data is presented. Lessons were then taken forward in the development of a connectionist model suitable for the present data which comprised fields from the Offender Assessment System (OASys) (Home Office, 2002) relating to 4,048 offenders subject to probation supervision. Included in the items for modelling was the Offender Group Reconviction Scale (OGRS) (Copas & Marshall, 1998; Taylor, 1999). Combining static and dynamic items using conventional statistical methods showed a maximum cross-validated AUC of .82. Using the connectionist model however a substantial increase in accuracy was observed, AUC=.98, and this largely maintained when variations in time to recidivism were controlled. Variation to model parameters suggested that performance linked to the resources in the middle layer, responsible for modelling rare patterns and interactions between items. Model pruning confirmed that while the connectionist model exploited a wide range of variables in its classification decisions, the linear model was affected mainly by OGRS and a limited number of other variables. Results are discussed in terms of the theoretical and practical benefits of developing the use of connectionist models for better incorporating individuals' dynamic risk and protective factors in recidivism assessments, and reducing the costs associated with false classifications.

This thesis empirically explores the experiences of adult women repeatedly serving custodial sentences of less than twelve months at HMP New Hall, a closed female prison located in West Yorkshire, in the North of England. Despite accounting for only a small proportion of the entire prison population, and largely received short-term sentences for minor offences, women offenders have high rates of reoffending and often only a short time after release at a large economic cost. The continued use of short-term imprisonment for non-violent women remains a controversial issue. The thesis 'unlocks' the narratives of twenty women prisoners' experiences of repeated short-term imprisonment through in-depth semi-structured interviews. These interviews were supplemented with periods of participatory observation at HMP New Hall and a series of three focus groups with individuals who work with the short-term prisoner population. The empirical research in this study was developed with a view to understanding the nature and dynamics of prison life for this population of prisoners, previous experiences of release from custody and the problems they faced which led to their re-imprisonment. Key findings from the research suggest that for many women who are repeatedly imprisoned for less than twelve months, a combination of complex, interlinked issues create barriers for exiting the cycle of repeat imprisonment. The thesis concludes that short-term imprisonment for non-violent women is largely ineffective. Imprisonment used as a last resort for women who fail to respond to community penalties must be able to provide a suitable, gender-specific regime that takes into account the shortness of women's sentences and that can assess, prioritise and address the women's needs in a way that will help them lead useful, law abiding lives on release.

No description available.

In this thesis an attempt is made to understand a group of mentallY abnormal aggressive offenders confined to a Special Hospital. Literature pertaining to violent offences is discussed, the relevance of 'psychopathy' is assessed, and an attempt is made to provide a framework of attribution theory for understanding social perceptions. Four studies are described. In the first a group of aggressive offenders is compared with a group of non-aggressive prisoners on repertory grid and questionnaire measures. In the second, one-off and multiple offending aggressors are compared. In the third the evaluation of victims of offences is assessed in terms of repertory grid measures. In the fourth study correlations are reported between grid measures and a variety of psychometric, behavioural and psychophysiological variables. The results are tentatively interpreted as providing some evidence for the notion of 'overcontrol'. An attempt is made to provide a preliminary cognitive model of overcontrol. Future directions for research are suggested.

Scholarly activity in the area of desistance from crime has developed considerably over the last years; nonetheless, most of this work has been carried out with samples from Western countries. This thesis intends to make a contribution to one of desistance’s main underexplored areas, by exploring desistance processes among a group of Chilean formerly persistent male offenders, assessing the extent to which international evidence could be applied to this non-Western sample. Building upon the idea that desistance is better understood as a journey between offending to conformity, this thesis presents three positions in that continuum: the Current Offenders, Desisters in transition, and Desisters. It is found that existing knowledge is relevant to explain how Chilean former offenders transit out of crime, but it also reveals there are areas that are unique to this sample and might be related to differences in structural changes and socio-historical context. This thesis addresses that complexity by introducing three Desistance Pathways, which are particular dynamic configurations of structural and subjective factors that give rise to a certain sense of identity. Overall, this study provides a unique insight into desistance from crime in Chile, based on the analysis of the interplay between individual-level factors, social factors, structural changes and historical context.