Volume 4, Issue 1, December 2002

ISSN 1096-4886 http://www.westerncriminology.org/Western_Criminology_Review.htm
© 2002, The Western Criminology Review. All Rights Reserved.

This paper focuses on the challenges confronted by women involved in the criminal justice system. Following a descriptive profile, the paper discusses the differences between women and men in terms of substance abuse, mental illness, trauma, employment, parenting, and pathways to crime. The impacts of these issues on female offenders' re-entry process are discussed. In addition, principles for program development and examples of treatment and agency models are presented. While a gender-responsive, comprehensive, integrated continuum of care is essential for women's journey home, the paper concludes that women's issues are social issues and as such require a social response.

Domestic and family violence is a growing problem among young offenders. This paper describes the relevant research literature and legislation, and then evaluates a specialized juvenile court program aimed at early intervention for young offenders and their victims. The Santa Clara County Domestic and Family Violence Court program identifies all juvenile domestic and family violence cases at intake, refers minor to a specialized juvenile court calendar with intensive court supervision and frequent reviews, and provides enhanced services to juvenile offenders, their victims and families. In this program domestic violence refers to partner violence, and family violence refers to violence against parents or siblings. The evaluation design involved comparing the records of the minors in the specialized program (N= 127) with the records of minors with similar offenses prior to the onset of the program (N= 67). The demographics, delinquency and family history, interventions, and outcomes in juvenile and adult court were compared. The data indicate that minors who successfully completed the program were less likely to have new criminal and delinquent records, and less likely to commit new domestic or family violence.

The key theme is to offer an overview of penality by examining Taiwanese imprisonment as the global projects of modernity. An extensive discussion of imprisonment combining the theoretical perspectives of sociology, criminology, and detailed empirical research will illustrate how the Taiwanese penality is shaped and affected by Western cultural and political hegemony and further embodied in the sentencing policies, prison administration and practices. The lens is focused on a research project that investigated Taiwanese sentencing policies and two prison institutions - Tainan and Taipei Prisons - regarding their institutional history, geography, and the discursive frameworks of authority. The sources consulted in the analysis include documentary materials, interview data and observation. First, the 'war on amphetamines' claimed by the Taiwanese government was found to coincide with the American 'war on drugs' in the 1990s. Western penal rhetoric has been marked as an era of 'warehousing' in which a coercive and repressive ideology has been formed. The similar experience is also found in Taiwan. Second, the impact and importation of the Western penal experience are also observed from prison designs and architecture based on typical Western 'radial design' and the 'telegraph pole model.' Third, in spite of the phasing out of the control model of the Texas prison system, it is relatively strong in Taiwanese experience of imprisonment. In conclusion, 'the West on the Rest,' in which cultural imperialism is maintained through the export and institutionalization of Western policies, rationality, organizational structures, values, language, techniques and cultural infrastructure grounded in the globalizing tendencies of modernity, needs further consideration.

Respect as a Component
in the Judge-Defendant Interaction in a
Specialized Domestic Violence Court that Utilizes Therapeutic Jurisprudence

Specialized courts and therapeutic jurisprudence both share an emphasis on the judge-defendant interaction. What a judge says, how he or she says it, and how defendants respond, may prove to be a key factor affecting outcomes within the specialized court process. Research has yet to carefully describe this judge-defendant interaction. Using participant observation, transcripts of judicial monitoring sessions, and judge and defendant interviews, this article analyzes one judge's use of therapeutic jurisprudence in judicial monitoring sessions in a specialized domestic violence court. The findings highlight seven key areas that describe progress report hearings: general characteristics, the process, general content, specific content, the judicial role and approach, defendants' perceptions of the judge, and the demeanor of the judge and the defendant. Taken together, these components exhibit a relationship depicted by process of shared respect between the judge and defendant that may be a key factor in defendant compliance.

Therapeutic Jurisprudence and Criminal Justice in Regional Western Australia: Challenges and Innovations

The Court of Petty Sessions and Children's Court at Geraldton in regional Western Australia apply therapeutic jurisprudence in criminal cases and in particular in the Geraldton Alternative Sentencing Regime (GASR). GASR seeks to take a therapeutic, holistic, team based and innovative approach to the disposition of offenders. It includes judicial management of cases with a court team; seeks to address all offending related factors at once; and along with traditional programs uses innovative evidence based approaches to rehabilitation. For example, preliminary results from the use of the stress reduction and self-development technique Transcendental Meditation (TM) by GASR participants in terms of increased physical, psychological and social well being are promising. GASR is a local, inter-agency development. Like many grass roots projects, it has limited resources. It also has the challenge of using a therapeutic approach in a criminal justice system used to the judiciary being largely uninvolved in offender case management. Ensuring GASR is appropriate for aboriginal offenders is another important goal.

Action Research on Domestic Violence in Central Asia

This presentation will provide an overview of an action research project in the former Soviet Union. From 1999-2001, I was co-director of this project that was funded by the U.S. Department of State. Our goal was to improve the responses to domestic violence against women in Kazakhstan by working with non-governmental organizations and state officials. In addition to various workshops, rural visits, focus groups, and interviews, a police curriculum was developed and pilot police training conducted. I will present an overview of our methodological approach as well as highlight some preliminary findings.

Evelyn Zellerer, San Diego State University, CA.

Embodiment, Masculinities, and Crime: A Structured Action View

This paper moves a step closer to understanding how those who engage in crime interact with and through their bodies. For contemporary sociological criminologists, the mind is separate from and independent of what we do with our bodies; accordingly, the body is viewed as signifying no theoretical importance for understanding crime. Moreover, this paper suggests a plausible reason for sociological criminology's exclusion of the body from theoretical enquiry and then selectively comments on recent efforts by postmodern feminist criminologists to incorporate the body into criminological theory. Although such postmodern accounts have helped provide insight into how bodies can be inscribed through discourse, this paper takes a different tack by problematizing the consciously, practicing "lived body." The author expands Messerschmidt's structured action theory on masculinities and crime by offering specific evidence from life history interviews on adolescent male violence that suggests a mind/body link in the commission of crime.

WINGS-A Gender Responsive Program for Young Women

Historically, the juvenile justice system, similar to its adult counterpart has been comprised mainly of male offenders. It is not surprising that both systems are geared to the male gender with respect to the deterrent and rehabilitative responses. In recent years, the proportion of females in both systems has increased, both nationally and in local communities. While some may argue that females are indeed more criminally involved, others suggest that females' criminality is directly associated with that of males. Still others think that the justice system is responding to females in different ways so that their behavior is more likely to turn up in official statistics. The fact is that more females are in the justice system and the system is ill prepared to respond to the unique social and developmental issues that young women face that set them apart from the males. Significant and sound research suggests that services for females must be gender relevant if they are to be effective. This presentation describes a promising program in San Diego County, California called WINGS: Working to Insure Nurturing Girls Successfully. The discussion will include the impetus for its implementation, the program components, and the evaluation methodology used to assess its progress.

Perception, Disinhibition, and Violent Domination: Pornography Consumption, Alcohol Consumption and Rape

The production, dissemination, and consumption of sexually explicit material is often cited as the perceptual embodiment of male domination over women and, additionally, there is clinical evidence that prolonged exposure to these images can de-sensitize men to the degradation of women. It is argued that this de-sensitization can lead to increasingly callous attitudes toward women which, in turn, may lead to higher rates of rape. Additionally, variability in alcohol consumption is known to be associated with other violent crimes such as youth violence, domestic abuse, and homicide. Variability in alcohol consumption, pornography consumption, and "class" are used to predict variability in rates of rape for 44 of the 50 States in 1990. Socio-economic factors are found to have a moderate inverse relationship to official rates of rape. The relationship between pornography consumption and rape is found to be spurious when S.E.S. variables are controlled for. However, the relationship between alcohol consumption and rape is found to hold true regardless of S.E.S and "class" variables

Project Overview

Breaking Cycles is a multi-agency, geographically diverse project designed to deter youth from becoming delinquent by focusing prevention programs on at-risk youth and their families, and by improving the juvenile justice and community response to juvenile offenders through a system of graduated sanctions. This paper will present an overview of the project, including information regarding the implementation process, primary program components, and lessons learned.

Breaking Cycles Works: Results of the Impact Evaluation

With funding from the California Board of Corrections (BOC), SANDAG conducted an extensive impact evaluation of the prevention and graduated sanctions components of the program. Outcome measures from the recently released report will be presented, including ones related to client satisfaction, recidivism, education, and drug and alcohol use.

Engaging and Involving Parents of Adjudicated Youth

Breaking Cycles Parent Advocate Program staff from Breaking Cycles quickly learned the importance of engaging parents of adjudicated youth. Assigning a specific individual to the role of Parent Advocate and making parent education an important program component facilitated this engagement. One of the Parent Advocates from the program will present information about this process, as well as challenges and successes they have experienced.

What is Breaking Cycles Really Like? Client Perspectives

Clients who completed the graduated sanctions component of Breaking Cycles will conclude the session, sharing their perceptions of the program, including what they think made a difference to them.

Theoretical Knowledge Development in Environmental
Criminology

The development and organization of knowledge - particularly theoretical knowledge in social science disciplines like criminology have been the focus of considerable attention since the 1960's. Stimulated by the emergence of Kuhn's notion of a paradigm (later called a 'disciplinary matrix') and his debate with philosophers of science like Lakatos, sociologists and others began a search for 'paradigm' in their own disciplines. This debate did not penetrate criminology to any great degree due, in part, to the interdisciplinary nature of research and theorizing. Nevertheless, subsequent examinations of the growth of theory in the social sciences by analysts such a Wagner hold considerable promise for a fruitful examination of the way in which theoretical knowledge grows, and has grown, in criminology. The current objective is to argue that a particular field of inquiry in criminology, being environmental criminology, is a distinctive theoretical research program; it is not a paradigm in the Kuhnian sense. The author provides a comparison of the concepts of paradigms and research programs, and explores the origins of environmental criminology. An exploratory historical analysis of the theoretical foundations of environmental criminology, as well as current and projected activity is utilized in supporting the argument that criminological knowledge grows through the development of these kinds of progressive research programs.

Nikki Thompson, Simon Fraser University, BC

The XYY Syndrome and the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: A Comparative and Critical Analysis

Recently, a link has been drawn between fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and criminal behaviour. While the associated research is promising, a critical comparison with the XYY phenomenon of the 1960's suggests the need for caution. What is occurring with FAS as an explanation of criminal behaviour is quite similar to the events surrounding the once, very popular, XYY phenomenon. In both cases, research was initially conducted in surroundings disconnected to crime and punishment. The findings then caught the attention of the media and the criminal justice system due to a few isolated high profile murder cases. Consequently, and before researchers established a definite link between the biological phenomenon and criminal behaviour, criminal justice policy was developed in an attempt to deal with the specific biological propensity. In the case of the XYY phenomenon, subsequent rigorous research demonstrated that the link with criminality could not be sustained. An analysis of the limited data on the relationship between FAS and criminal behaviour suggest that this "explanation" will suffer the same fate. The link is based on studies that, for example, reflect problems with the diagnostic criteria, probable over-diagnosis, and selective sampling. As with the case with the XYY phenomenon, the implications of a flawed link between FAS and criminality for social policy are serious, and potentially detrimental to some populations. Until a definite link can be drawn between FAS and criminal behaviour, legislators and policy makers should err on the side of caution and not expend funds on policy initiatives that purport to deal with FAS as a criminogenic factor.

Kathy Powelson, Simon Fraser University, BC

Translating Crime: Some Opening Words in a Dialogue Between Criminology and Hermeneutics

Proceeding from the theoretical standpoint of hermeneutics, this paper considers how criminology "translates" the existential reality of crime into an object or problem for social scientific analysis. The etymology of the word "translation" reveals its literal meaning as a transferring or "carrying across." From where to where and with respect to what does such a carrying across take place? The task of criminology is one of translating the human experience of crime in ways that make it meaningful as a social scientific phenomenon. Answering the question above therefore requires considering how criminology mediates between what precedes and follows the "as." (Cf. Heidegger, 2001) Simply stated, criminological inquiry cannot separate itself from the lived experience of crime, which precedes the analytic interpretation of such experience as "facts," "data," or "problems." Hermeneutics is uniquely situated to take up the notion of criminology as translation. Virtually unknown in criminology, hermeneutics regards understanding as an event, in which human beings always already find themselves involved beforehand with the very world that they seek to know. Every act of understanding or interpretation is therefore grounded in a prior relation to that of which knowledge is sought. Knowledge emerges from an ontological relation of belonging between the knower and known, a relation that is not so much a delimiting finitude, as it is the possibility of truth. (Ricouer, 1991:29) Understanding thus always resists reduction to purportedly self-consistent method. (Gadamer, 1991:xi-xv) Accordingly, this paper argues that criminology must recognize more fully the experience of crime that transcends its social scientific analysis, and with respect to which the truth of such analysis must be judged.

Jonathan M. Wender, Simon Fraser University, BC

Using Time-Series-Cross-sectional Data to Detect Unobserved Heterogeneity Bias in Macro-level Models of Crime

Criminologists have ignored unobserved heterogeneity in macro-level models of crime. Time-series-cross-section (TSCS) data from all 58 counties in California between the years of 1990 and 1998 were analyzed in order to demonstrate that macro-level heterogeneity exists. We began by discussing some of the problems inherent in TSCS data-contemporaneous correlation, serial autocorrelation, spatial autocorrelation, and panel heteroskedasticity-as well as techniques for detecting them. To correct for these problems we estimated dynamic TSCS models (with panel corrected standard errors and lagged dependent variables) for property and violent crime. The resulting coefficients served as a base of comparison. Next, we controlled for heterogeneity by adding fixed effects for county and year to the dynamic TSCS models. Finally, we used equality-of-coefficients tests to demonstrate the consequences of ignoring unobserved heterogeneity in macro-level models of crime.

John Worrall, California State University, San Bernardino and Travis C. Pratt, Rutgers University

Redefining the Role of the Criminal Defense Lawyer at Plea Bargaining and Sentencing: A Therapeutic Jurisprudence/Preventive
Law Model.

Promising new developments concerning offender rehabilitation and various provisions of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines and their judicial construction make it appropriate to reconceptualize the role of the criminal defense lawyer at plea bargaining and sentencing. These new developments provide new opportunities for attorneys to counsel clients about rehabilitative options, to facilitate their rehabilitative efforts, and to seek probation or reduced sentences as a result. The author proposes a new and broader role for counsel on the basis of principles of therapeutic jurisprudence and preventive law. The new approach is described, and the author suggests how counsel can hold conversations with clients about these sensitive issues and play a therapeutic and preventive role in ways that increase client liberty and wellbeing.

Bruce J. Winick, University of Miami, FL.

A Therapeutic Jurisprudence Approach
to the Trial Process in Domestic Violence Felony Trials

This paper presents a therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ) approach to the prosecution process of domestic violence related felony trials. In the criminal law arena, a TJ approach has been applied to prosecutorial decision making, plea bargaining, and sentencing. This paper extends the application of a TJ approach to the trial process in domestic violence related felony cases. I argue that the current trial process has an anti-therapeutic effect on victims in how the "crime against the state" perspective on prosecution disempowers victims, how criminal law de-contextualizes intimate partner violence, and how the "what was done" disputes in intimate partner cases makes the introduction of negative victim character evidence central to these trials. I then consider how a TJ approach to the trial process in intimate partner felony cases should encompass a client or victim-centered model and set forth a series of recommendations for prosecutors in using such a model during the trial process. These recommendations include: 1) how prosecutors can anticipate defenses in domestic violence cases; 2) the importance of pre-trial interactions with victims to empower them through the process; 3) the use of pre-trial motions to limit negative victim character evidence and to introduce "other acts" evidence about the defendant's prior abuse of the victim; and 4) the role of expert testimony on the effects of battering to contextualize the violence for fact finders, support the prosecution themes, and rehabilitate the victim after a character attack.

Dealing With The Resistant Criminal Client: A Psychologically-Minded Strategy For More Effective Legal Counseling

Criminal defense attorneys routinely face a difficult and hostile situation where a criminal defendant denies and minimizes a serious offence even in light of overwhelming evidence of guilt. This situation is a difficult one in terms of the attorney mounting a defense and the mental health professional providing rehabilitation after conviction. This article proposes a psychologically-minded strategy for the defense attorney to use with so-called "defensive" clients. The attorney is to use motivational techniques determined by what stage of change the client is experiencing. If the client is then prepared to change offending behavior, the mental health professional can effectively provide rehabilitation. The strategy respects client autonomy in increasing client decision-making, sets the scene for possible client change and takes into consideration the possibility of client innocence. The approach is persuasive and supportive, rather than coercive and argumentative. The proposed strategy is particularly relevant for attorneys who wish to practice therapeutic jurisprudence in the criminal law context.

The Defense Counsel's Role in the Mental Health Court

This paper will look at the emerging mental health courts using the lens of Therapeutic Jurisprudence. Specifically, it will study the role that the defense attorney has in a mental health court and whether that role is challenged by the treatment team model that these courts have adopted. As part of a treatment team a defense attorney is asked to refrain from certain adversarial exercises that are generally considered necessary to a proper defense. Additionally, the defense attorney's role in assessing and ensuring voluntary participation within the mental health courts will be examined. These roles have previously been examined in the context of other specialized courts and comparisons will be made between those courts (especially drug courts) and mental health courts.

The How and Why of Therapeutic Jurisprudence in Criminal Defense Work

Application of therapeutic jurisprudence in criminal defense work involves a threshold recognition that most criminal defense attorneys and the criminal justice system generally address the symptoms of the client's legal problem rather than the cause of the problem that resulted in an arrest. For example, in the classic case of the habitual driving under the influence (DUI) offender, the symptom is the repeated arrests and the cause is usually alcoholism. It is the long-standing policy of the firm of McShane, Davis, and Hance to decline representation of this type of defendant unless he or she contractually agrees to the therapeutic jurisprudence approach (in the event that no viable legal or factual defense is present). The steps and benefits of a typical therapeutic jurisprudence case are reviewed that reflect the firm's focus on rehabilitation and mitigation of punishment.

Impacts of Discretionary Parole Release

Discretionary parole release has been replaced in a number of large jurisdictions by mandatory release, as "tough on crime" became a national campaign and states began passing "tougher" mandatory sentencing laws in response to the growing perception that parole is "soft on crime." Using national data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) National Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP), this study examines the extent to which discretionary versus mandatory release impacts length of actual prison time served, time served as a percent of sentence imposed, and successful completion of parole supervision. This analysis indicates that for almost every offense, especially violent crimes, those released discretionarily served longer prison terms and were about twice as likely to successfully complete parole than those released mandatorily. Those released mandatorily served a greater percent of their imposed sentence but less actual time in prison than those released discretionarily.

Gender-Specific Treatment Needs in Drug Court

As drug courts continue to be implemented across the country, it is important to ensure a full range of appropriate treatment services for females. In this study a cross-sectional survey was used to evaluate the gender-specific needs of female participants in the Orange County (CA) drug court program and their perceptions of the program's effectiveness. Analyses were conducted to examine the background characteristics, drug history, prior criminal history and the program experiences of participants. The results indicate female participants have gender-specific treatment needs. Several suggestions are made as to what the drug court program can do to better serve females.

Exercising Wellness: The Role of Physical Fitness in a Treatment Drug Court

Research shows that drug courts decrease recidivism of drug-involved offenders. Less is known on what specific treatment components prevent relapse and promote recovery from addiction. Recent research indicates drug addiction creates both temporary and long-term changes in the brain. This study examines the psychological and physiological affects of addiction and exercise to determine whether an ancillary exercise program fits into the treatment court curriculum. The use of exercise is based on the idea that abstinence from drugs and alcohol begins with improved physical health. Results are presented from a cross-sectional survey of 100 drug court participants on health and exercise.

Findings of the Washington State Institute for Public Policy in the Juvenile Justice System

The Washington State Institute for Public Policy was first directed by the State Legislature to become involved in juvenile justice issues in the 1995. Since that time the Institute has been involved in a series of programs evaluations, developed a assessment used in the juvenile courts, constructed a criminal justice system recidivism database from various statewide databases, and built a cost/benefit model that includes a meta-analysis of the existing literature as well as the capability to calculate the cost/benefits of various juvenile and adult criminal justice programs. This presentation highlights some of the findings from each of these efforts.

Recidivism: A Statistical Analysis

One of the concerns of juvenile justice professionals is the degree of recidivism of juveniles released from their jurisdictions. Recidivism arguably is among the most important indicators of the efficacy of treatment programs. Also, budgetary considerations dictate that recidivism be kept at irreducible minimum. A statistical technique that seems ideally suited for the study of recidivism is logistic regression. The data consists of release cohorts 1996 through 1999 of the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections. The analysis reveals that statistically significant factors contributing to recidivism are as follows: age at release, number of referrals, number of adjudications, number of felony petitions, length of stay, substance abuse, gender, history of abuse and neglect, gang affiliation and property offense.

Race and the Social Construction of Childhood: Youth Tried as Adults in Florida Courts

There has been tremendous focus in recent years on youth "tried as adults" in the adult criminal court, rather than remaining within the juvenile jurisdiction. Because the transfer to adult court is the harshest of all juvenile justice outcomes, I focus on the transfer to adult court as my criteria for measuring differences in severity in juvenile justice processing. My statistical analysis of recent juvenile court records illuminates these issues. This analysis reveals that certain groups, African Americans particularly, are treated more punitively, and tried as adults more often, while others are handled in a manner more consistent with the original philosophy of the juvenile court. Additionally, I look at jurisdictional characteristics and practices and how they contribute to variations in juvenile justice processing and decision-making in general and discriminatory processing practices in particular.

Distance Education in Criminal Justice

This paper provides an overview of distance education in Criminal Justice and related fields. There has been a significant increase in distance-based courses over the last two years. Traditional "brick and mortar" universities and recently established web-based institutions offer a variety of distance courses in criminal justice and related fields. Offerings range from individual courses to undergraduate and graduate degrees offered online. This paper provides an overview of the prevalence and focus of these programs. Problems related to the present and future state of distance education in criminal justice are also discussed.

Conduct Disorder and Serious and Violent Aboriginal Young Offenders: Examining the Role of Ethnicity

Previous research has shown that incarcerated serious and violent young offenders have a high prevalence rate of conduct disorder. While the literature predominantly examines conduct disorder in Caucasian youth, there is a paucity of research examining this diagnosis in minority youth, specifically Aboriginal youth. This research is important because Aboriginal youth in Canada are highly over-represented in Canadian youth custody facilities (Bala, 1997; Bell, 1999). This paper reports of the findings of a three-year research project examining 500 serious and violent incarcerated youth in a major Canadian city between 1998 -2000. Specifically, this paper will examine the prevalence of conduct disorder in our sample of Aboriginal youth, its comorbidity with other mental disorders, and the differential onset of conduct disorder based on age and gender between Aboriginal youth and non-Aboriginal youth.

Practicing What We Preach? A Statewide Assessment of University Curricula for the Criminal Justice Major

The Law Enforcement Assistance Act of 1965 was an initial attempt by the federal government to improve and standardize criminal justice education on a national level. Since this time the overall utility of a university degree to the criminal justice professional has been an issue of debate. A secondary debate has also evolved concerning the form that a university curriculum should take to best prepare these practitioners. Beginning in 1989, the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) operationalized what can be considered the components of a model curriculum and began reviewing university programs in relation to these prescribed standards. The present research is a census of all 4-year Texas Universities identified as offering a criminal justice major. This presentation will discuss the nature and content of criminal justice education in Texas. Policy and pedagogical issues will also be discussed.

Making Classes More Memorable: Using Service Learning to Enhance Criminal Justice Courses

Despite many efforts from educators to create imaginative lessons plans that capture a student's attention and convey pertinent information, it is sometimes difficult to convey complex concepts within a lecture setting. Although faculty members in various disciplines of academe have utilized service learning for the past two decades, the use of community service as a learning tool remains relatively new in the field of criminal justice. The presenter has utilized service learning in teaching Juvenile Justice throughout the past three semesters, and she will demonstrate some of the basic principles, definitions, and benefits of utilizing service learning to enhance one's teaching of criminal justice theories and philosophies. The presentation will expose the audience to the benefits of incorporating service learning into already existing courses as well as to various forms of service learning.

Conventional Calculations of Homicide Rates Lead
to an Inaccurate
Reflection of Canadian Trends

The published Canadian homicide rate indicates a steady downward trend since the mid-1970's. This conventional homicide rate inaccurately reflects the actual nature of homicide and should be replaced with a new homicide rate calculated using available demographic information about offender characteristics. This paper uses recent advances in statistical techniques to show that the actual homicide rate exhibits significantly different trends than the conventional rate: 1) there is no structural break in the trend until the mid-1980's; 2) the trend of the homicide rate increased until the early 1990's; and 3) though the trend of the homicide rate has been decreasing since the early 1990's, there is insufficient statistical evidence to suggest a new downward trend. These findings suggest that demographics and time series analysis are required to properly assess homicide trends, helping to isolate social variables so their effects on homicide rates can be more accurately determined. Additionally, there are profound implications for policy decision-making and resulting public opinion. Finally, this paper demonstrates the benefits of cooperation between academic disciplines and the utility of taking advantage of the latest theoretical and empirical techniques to reach a better understanding of social phenomena.

Age and Homicide: Evidence for Persisting Self-help "Honor" Institutions Among White Southerners

Aggregate analyses of homicide conducted by many authors at city, county and state levels illustrate that both structural variables (e.g. poverty, inequality and education) and regional variables (that are used as proxies for "subcultures of violence or honor") are significant predictors of interpersonal violence. Other studies have shown that a large proportion of interpersonal violence is conflict related (rather than predatory), thus related to the types of institutions available for individuals to resolve disputes peacefully. Using aggregate FBI homicide data, I analyze the relationship of age and conflict related violence, and compare the results among different regions of the United States. Poisson regression, little used in aggregate crime studies, is used to test the specific hypothesis that regional institutions are important. I explain the results with an ecological and evolutionary theory that links structural, cultural and dispute resolution frameworks. I challenge the assumption that the association between younger age groups and crime is invariant across space, at least for conflict related homicides. Results show that dispute related homicides do vary with age - older males are more likely to be involved in homicides in areas that historians and other scholars have identified as having strong honor institutions relative to peacemaking institutions. The relationship between honor institutions and the emergence of third-party peacemaking institutions is discussed, and competing hypotheses are evaluated for explaining age variation and regional patterns of violence.

Reflections on Wrongful Convictions in Homicide Cases: The Origins of Error

In their recent book, Convicted But Innocent, Huff, Rattner and Sagarin argue that the causes of wrongful conviction in the United States can be traced to eyewitness error, prosecutorial and police misconduct and errors, plea bargaining, community pressure for conviction, inadequacy of legal representation, accusations against the innocent by the guilty, criminal records, and race. Huff et al. estimate that about one half of one per cent of all felony convictions are wrongful; they note that a criminal justice system that is 99.5 per cent accurate would still generate in excess of 10,000 wrongful convictions per year in the United States. They suggest that most errors are preventable. Diane Martin, in her submission to the Inquiry into Proceedings Against Guy Paul Morin, argued that "...the similarities among the cases of wrongful conviction in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia are far greater than the differences that local social, doctrinal and procedural variations produce". Like Huff et al., Martin argues that most wrongful convictions are preventable; she suggests that "...if the existing rules and existing standards of competent practice, as they are commonly understood, had been met, the innocent would not have been convicted and thus the guilty would not have escaped". More specifically, Martin pointed to two categories of causation for wrongful conviction: predisposing circumstances and institutional errors. Martin identified four predisposing factors: a heinous crime, an unpopular accused, other pressures to convict and a case that rests upon inherently frail evidence. She also identified five sources of institutional error: police error, prosecutorial error, witness error, defence error and judicial error. This presentation will canvass these arguments, in the context of the specifics of three Canadian homicide cases: the wrongful convictions of David Milgaard, Guy-Paul Morin, and Donald Marshall.

Recognizing and Combating Deviant Social Behaviors on University Avenue, Riverside, CA.

In an effort to identify and deal with certain deviant social behaviors in a public area, a section of University Avenue in Riverside, CA, was chosen for observation and analysis. The study area, a half-mile section between Ottawa and Chicago Avenues is notorious for prostitution, drugs and disorder. This area has become a major concern due to the ever-expanding University Corridor. Policy implications are discussed in light of current redevelopment efforts by the city and the University of California, Riverside.

Managing Crime in the Inland Empire: A Survey
of Municipal Crime Free Multi-housing Programs

Most existing Crime Free Multi-family Housing Programs are modeled after either the Campbell and Delong Resources model or the Mesa Arizona Program. This paper details the results of the Inland Empire Survey of municipal Crime Free Multi-family Housing programs. Interviews were conducted with those responsible for municipal code enforcement for cities located in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. Following a brief description of code enforcement for the valley-department responsible, city population, police involvement and initiation of action-this presentation will review the differences between programs operating within the two counties. Programs are compared in terms of: organization and infrastructure, code enforcement procedures, reactionary versus proactive case initiation, procedures, and follow through. This research finds that variations across counties are attributable to differing base models.

Crime Reduction in Budget Motels, Chula Vista, CA

Motels are often havens for illicit behavior due to the anonymity afforded by the constant guest traffic. Crime data and information from the Chula Vista Chamber of Commerce has indicated that there is a high level of drug dealing and prostitution related to these establishments. This proposed research would employ an analytically mixed design to test whether improved motel management in the form of Landlord Training Programs and adherence to by-laws, will reduce the associated crime problems in that area. Intensive interviews with motel staff, police members, pre and posttests of calls for service, and crime mapping will measure changes between the experimental and control group and periods before and after the treatment.

Gender and the Treatment of Delinquency

Data on key treatment processes and on preliminary outcomes will be presented for a 5-year longitudinal randomized clinical trial (Chamberlain, P., 1997; Female delinquency: Treatment process and outcomes. Grant No. R01 NH 54257, Center for Studies of Violent Behavior and Traumatic Stress, NIMH, U.S. PHS) measuring the effects of treating chronically delinquent adolescent girls with Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC). Gender differences in the development of antisocial behavior will be discussed and data will be presented on potential risk factors and their impact on treatment. In addition, data on proximal measures of treatment success will be presented. Clinical issues relevant to working with chronically delinquent youth and their families will be discussed with a focus on key components of intervention that are empirically related to outcomes. Implications for treating adolescent boys and girls involved with juvenile justice and future directions will be discussed.

Integrating Dually Diagnosed Offenders
back into the Community: Assessment of the San Bernardino Partners Aftercare Network
(SPAN)

Following a countywide needs assessment survey conducted by the San Bernardino County Criminal Justice/Mentally Ill Offender Crime Reduction Strategy Committee, a demonstration project was developed and funding obtained. The general goal of the project, the San Bernardino Partners for Aftercare Networking (SPAN) Program, was to address a number of critical gaps in service delivery identified by the Strategy Committee. Of primary import was to create a network that would ensure that mentally ill offenders would receive requisite community services upon their release, as these services are key to preventing recidivism. Dually diagnosed offenders are more likely to recidivate upon release into the community following jail and prison terms due to an increased need for support and aftercare. SPAN sought to address these needs in San Bernardino County. Following a review of the stated goals and objectives of the program and brief program description, the implementation and current status of the program are assessed. This report presents lessons learns and implications drawn from the experience of this project. It is intended to inform future initiatives and should not be construed as a critical evaluation of the effectiveness or importance of SPAN.

Profiles of Co-Disordered Drug Offenders and Sex Offenders in Prison-Based TC Treatment

The extent to which traditional therapeutic community (TC) methods meet the specialized treatment needs of co-disordered (i.e., co-occurring substance abuse disorder and psychiatric disorder) men and women, including drug-dependent sex offenders, in prison is largely unknown. Very little research has been conducted specifically with these populations. The purposes of this study were to generate profiles of co-disordered drug offenders and drug-dependent sex offenders entering TC treatment in prison and to explore their post-release reincarceration rates, compared with non-disordered drug offenders in the same prison-based TCs. Extensive intake interview data for over 8,000 men and women who have received treatment in one of 15 prison-based TCs in California was analyzed to produce profiles of co-disordered and sex-offending program participants. Results showed that co-disordered offenders, sex offenders, and non-disordered drug offenders appear to have different background characteristics. Co-disordered inmates were significantly more likely than other offenders to be women, to have more severe arrest histories, and to have histories of sexual and/or physical abuse. In contrast, sex offenders were significantly more likely than other offenders to be men and to have been employed prior to incarceration. After controlling for various background characteristics and other factors related to being reincarcerated, logistic regression analyses showed that co-disordered inmates were most likely to be incarcerated within 12 months of parole, compared with sex offenders and other non-disordered inmates. There were no differences in the rates of reincarceration between sex offenders and other drug-dependent inmates. Prison programs may need to use more comprehensive diagnostic assessments at intake to assess the diverse psychological needs of the inmates entering prison-based drug treatment. Future exploration from this study could provide valuable information on the types of services and approaches that should be emphasized when treating co-disordered drug offenders and drug-dependent sex offenders in prison-based TCs.

A Program to Reduce DUI Among Hispanic Males

California State University, Stanislaus in joint cooperation with Merced County Probation Department and the California Highway Patrol is currently developing a program that will work with Hispanic community based organizations toward the goal of reducing the overrepresentation of Hispanic males among DUI arrests. This paper details this program and reports some of the preliminary findings concerning this problem.

An Examination of Police Officers' Insights into Problem Identification

Problem-oriented Policing begins with problem identification during the scanning phase. Conventional knowledge suggests that since patrol officers work specific geographical areas (beats) on a fairly constant basis, they come to see where the problems exist; thus, police experience alone can be relied upon to identify crime problems. However, Intelligence Led Policing is founded upon a model that contradicts this conventional notion. The question remains unanswered. Are officers effective at identifying problems in their assigned areas? This research examines this issue by reviewing the consistency of officer problem identification across focus groups for an entire department in terms of the kinds of problems identified, location of problems, and possible responses. While each focus group identified unique crime problems, officers were able to identify specific sites or properties that generated high levels of disorder related calls. Solutions to crime problems involved increased police presence for specific areas and crime prevention for cites.

Analysis and Assessment of Police/Business Empowerment Partnership (P/BEP) Program

The Police/Business Empowerment Partnership (P/BEP) program is based on the "purchase of service" concept whereby the Westminster Police Department provides additional hours of police patrol, above and beyond regular patrol hours, which is compensated as overtime hours for the officers by the businesses that receive this service. P/BEP was implemented in two separate shopping centers located in the city of Westminster, CA. The goals of P/BEP were to improve positive perception of public safety, to increase confidence of merchants and citizens with the area's viability to conduct businesses, and to allow for the police to work with the community to develop and implement long-term, problem-solving strategies. In order to evaluate the program, community-wide public opinion surveys were conducted. The study evaluated the impact of this problem-oriented policing program across various safety factors, including community safety, business district safety, police activity, gang activity, auto theft, and fear of crime. Statistical analyses of collected data indicated that the program had a positive impact in creating an atmosphere that is favorable for businesses.

Sungusungu Vigilante" Social Control in Tanzania, East Africa

Following Tanzania's war with Uganda in 1979, rates of cattle rustling increased dramatically. Rural villagers suspected that the Tanzanian police were aiding organized rustlers, thus elders from the Sukuma tribe created social control organizations, called Sungusungu. Because Sungusungu is based on traditional organizations, new members were able to quickly initiate other villages, thus spreading the cooperative organizations to Sukuma villages across Tanzania. Although the organizations first sought to control cattle rustlers, social ostracism and fines were soon used to punish (and restore) other types of deviants including thieves, debtors, adulterers and suspected witches. Suspected thieves and witches upon failing to confess their crimes (whether guilty or innocent) were often beaten, and sometimes killed. In realizing the effectiveness of Sungusungu to control crime (although concerned with the sometimes violent and clandestine nature of the organizations), the Tanzanian State has legitimized and empowered Sungusungu. By becoming a Sungusungu member in one village, I was able to evaluate how the organizations maintain high rates of participation, reduce intra-organizational corruption, and effectively deter social deviants. The grass-roots development of Sungusungu is a useful case study to evaluate the benefits and costs of informal social control - the Sungusungu have reduced crime rates, but have done so at the expense of killing many suspected deviants.

Theoretical Underpinnings of Human Rights and the Implications for International Human Rights

Various perspectives have been formulated to discuss the underpinnings of human rights; however, the nature of human rights lacks coherent definition and agreement among scholars. Consequently, implementation and enforcement of international human rights lack consistent application; in particular, Canada has failed to adequately address human rights issues such as homelessness. This discussion will focus on the disagreement between cultural relativists and international human rights proponents and on Jack Donnelly's continuum regarding the range of human rights approaches. As a result, it is argued that an internationalist perspective is the most appropriate method from which to view human rights and consequently address the implementation of international human rights within Western democratic societies.

The Youth Criminal Justice Act: A Darker Young Offenders Act

Recently, in Canada, there has been a push to replace the current piece of youth legislation, the Young Offenders Act (YOA). This push is a result of several perceived failures of the YOA and has culminated in a newly proposed piece of youth legislation, Bill C-7: the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA). The Department of Justice has stressed that the YCJA will rectify the problems of the YOA. This policy paper provides an analysis of these claims of the Canadian government by focusing on the substantive sections of the YCJA, comparing the YCJA with the YOA, and incorporating social science research dealing with the probable effects of the proposed innovations. Specifically, this analysis focuses on the use of extrajudicial sanctions, the new intensive supervision orders attached to all youth sentences, adult transfers and the decreased emphasis on due process rights in the YCJA. The analysis shows that the YCJA embodies a much more punitive model of youth justice, evidenced by its focus on the protection of society. Aside from the increased potential punitiveness of the YCJA, there is very little substantive difference between the YOA and YCJA. Thus, the YCJA is likely to suffer from the same deficiencies as the YOA.

The Impact of Arrest and Sanctioning on Subsequent Delinquent Behavior: A Cross-National Comparison

This presentation describes the similarities and differences between the U.S. and German juvenile justice systems. The German system emphasizes diversion from the juvenile court and the application of minimum sanctions. In contrast, the current U.S. system is a more severe system generally lacking in diversion and imposing more severe sanctions for delinquent behavior. The question then arises whether the differences between these two systems result in differences in the future delinquent behavior of those arrested and sanctioned. Using data from two long-term longitudinal studies, the Denver Youth Survey and the Bremen School-to-Work Study, this question is addressed.

Police Workload: An Analysis of Patrol-Generated Crown Counsel Report

This study analyzes the changes in administrative workload faced by patrol officers in the Vancouver Police Department. While a number of studies have examined police workload in general, very few have focused on police paperwork. Yet, it is critical to capture report writing and administrative tasks, as they can consume a significant amount of police time. Based on an examination of a sample of 2,100 police reports prepared by patrol members over a period of eight years, the study found that the total size of Reports to Crown Counsel has increased by approximately 45% between 1992 and 1999. However, the type and the nature of the cases investigated have not changed considerably. The main finding is that while police officers are dealing with the same substantive offences in 1999 as in 1992, they are now preparing larger, more detailed, and more time-consuming reports, to comply with evolving regulations and legal obligations. The study suggests that crime levels and the nature of cases are important but do not tell the "whole story" about a police department's workload.

Who Are the Burned-Out Officers and What Difference Does it Make?

Brad Smith, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
Kenneth Novak, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, MO.
James Frank, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
In this paper, we examine the relationship between police officers' self-report measures of job burnout and observed street-level job performance (number and nature of citizen encounters, use of force, arrest activity) among a sample of police officers employed in a large mid-western municipal police department. Data for the study were collected through an officer survey and systematic observations of officers. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Stealth Predator Early Warning Methods

A core strategy of certain offenders involves the commission of crimes in such a fashion that authorities are not aware of what has happened. These serial offenders are referred to as stealth predators. The objective of this paper is to discuss methods that can be used by law enforcement agencies to detect such offenders. Spatial-temporal clustering models, similar to those employed in the field of epidemiology, can serve as the basis of early warning systems. If too many crimes are happening, in too short a time period, in too small an area (based on historical trends and patterns), police would be alerted to the presence of an abnormal cluster. The case of the missing sex trade workers from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside will be discussed as a case example.

Prison-Based Therapeutic Community Treatment: Participant Outcomes

This paper presents and discusses parole and return to custody (RTC) data on inmates who received prison-based therapeutic community treatment and were subsequently released to parole. Currently, the California state prison system has approximately 9,000 beds devoted to therapeutic community (TC) substance abuse treatment, which are spread over 35 programs in 19 state prisons and two Community Correctional Facilities. Under two contracts with the California Department of Corrections (CDC), the UCLA Drug Abuse Research Center is conducting 5-year process and outcome evaluations on 15 of these programs at ten state prisons, totaling 3,300 beds. Since they commenced operations in 1998 and 1999, over 6,800 inmates (male and female) have been classified into these 15 TC programs to receive substance abuse treatment services. Using data collected from CDC's Offender-Based Information System (OBIS), we will examine differences in RTC rates, length of time until reincarceration, and current parole status based on selected independent measures collected at intake into the prison-based TC programs (i.e., relating to personal background, drug and alcohol use history, and involvement with the criminal justice system), length of time in prison-based treatment, discharge reason (i.e., completers vs. non-completers), and participation in community-based treatment following release to parole.

Amity In-prison Therapeutic Community: Five Year Outcomes

The Amity program was the first prison-based therapeutic community (TC) in California. Amity provides intensive substance abuse treatment to male inmates for 9 to 12 months. Post-release aftercare in a TC is also available to Amity participants. Wexler and colleagues found significant treatment effects at one-year post release. We conducted 5-year post-release follow-up interviews with over 80% (N=576) of subjects in the original Amity study to assess the long-term effectiveness of the program and identify factors predictive of success. This is one of two studies to conduct 5-year follow-ups of a prison-based TC treatment program. We examined a range of outcome measures: criminal activity, substance use, psychosocial functioning, and HIV risk behaviors. Preliminary analysis shows that at five years, there was no significant difference in self-reported drug use, most self-reported criminal activity, and urine results between the treatment and comparison groups. However, within the intent-to-treat group, treatment completers had a significantly lower rate of days incarcerated and a significantly higher level of employment (self-reported) at 5 years post release when compared to the treatment drop-outs. The crime results are similar to those found at 3 years post treatment. Additional analyses will be presented.

The Devil in Disguise: Section 718.2(e) of the Criminal Code and Aboriginal Overincarceration

Of the many Canadian sentencing initiatives legislated in 1996, one was specifically designed to ameliorate the social problem of Aboriginal overincarceration, namely section 718.2(e) of the Criminal Code. To the surprise of many, Aboriginal overincarceration levels have remained static since this provision's enactment over four years ago. This thesis is designed to explore the possible reasons why Aboriginal overincarceration levels have remained unaffected despite the implementation of this provision. Eighty-nine Canadian criminal cases involving Aboriginal offenders who have raised s. 718.2(e) in the hope of receiving a non-carceral or mitigated carceral sanction are examined. The results of this study suggest, among other things, that (1) few variables influence the decision-making of judges with respect to the sentencing of Aboriginal offenders, and that (2) although most offenders are receiving mitigated sentences because of s. 718.2(e), they are still receiving carceral sentences. The author concludes that the criminal justice system is simply the wrong vehicle to be using to address such an issue, as it is actually a symptom of a larger problem that stems from social, political, and economic issues. Therefore, the fight against Aboriginal overincarceration must largely be re-directed to the social, economic and political realms to address the roots of the problem.

The Youth Authority Act in California: 1941-2001

In 1941 California was the first to adopt the model Youth Correction Authority Act developed by the American Law Institute. This model of a juvenile justice system reflected the latest and best thinking of nationally recognized leaders from the judiciary, corrections, and social welfare. It had also benefited from contributions by the most highly respected experts in the fields of criminology, sociology and psychology. Radically breaking with traditional thinking and practice in juvenile corrections, it proposed a model of juvenile justice based on rehabilitation instead of retributive punishment and called for state-level coordination of services. This paper describes the implementation of this model in the years after 1941 and exams the extent to which the model's vision informs the California Youth Authority's juvenile prisons, schools, and forestry camps today.

Gang Membership: Is it a Homogeneous Experience?

Research has indicated that gang membership brings about changes in individual behavior and attitudes. However, little research has examined whether this occurs for gang members from different racial groups. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether gang members' from various racial groups report differences in gang characteristics, attitudes, and behaviors or whether gang membership is a homogeneous experience

Violence Against Urban Girls: Peer and Neighborhood Contexts

Research on victimization risks among youths has consistently shown that participation in delinquency and other risky activities increases youths' risks for violent victimization (Lauritsen et al., 1991). Research also suggests that place-e.g., living in impoverished and dangerous neighborhoods-is more strongly associated with victimization risk than individual characteristics (Lauritsen and White, 2001). This paper examines the impact of peer relations and neighborhood contexts in shaping girls' risks for gender-specific violence. Our specific concern is to examine the contextual and situational factors shaping violence risk and the nature of violence against girls. Data is drawn from in-depth interviews with 36 young women and 40 young men in St. Louis, Missouri.

Gang Membership and Victimization

In this presentation we explore the relationship between reasons for joining a gang and subsequent victimization. Specifically, a sizable number of gang youth profess to joining gangs for protection, that is, to reduce their probability of victimization. A large body of research, however, has established that offending and victimization rates are higher for gang youth than non-gang youth. This apparent contradiction is examined by comparing victimization rates for youth who report joining gangs for protection versus those who do not report this as a reason for their gang affiliation.

Civil Gang Injunctions as
a Gang Intervention Strategy

The civil gang injunction is an increasingly popular tool among law enforcement to respond to persistent street gang activity. While few scholarly evaluations have been conducted on this strategy, a recent study in Los Angeles found a modest reduction in violent crime following the implementation of injunctions. Much of the injunction activity has been centred in Southern California and very little is known about the use of this strategy on a national level. This presentation presents preliminary findings from a study on the national prevalence of civil gang injunctions. Telephone interviews were conducted with law enforcement personnel in over 100 jurisdictions that responded positively to the 1999 National Youth Gang Survey item regarding the use of gang injunctions. Our findings suggest that 1) the NYGS figures substantially overestimate the use of injunctions; 2) injunctions are a flexible strategy in that they are used in a variety of gang problem contexts and reflect different types of law enforcement activities; and 3) there is considerable variation among law enforcement as what constitutes a civil gang injunction.

Clinical Assessment of Wickedness

This presentation discusses the different types of bad behavior (criminal, unethical, immoral, antisocial). Analysis of various deficits that contribute to bad behavior reveals that the final pathway involves a combination of factors including: biological (under arousal), psychological (grandiosity), social (lack of empathy), decision making (lack of future orientation), cultural (permission), ethical (teleological reasoning), and moral (motivation). This paper argues that some of these deficits are not confined to the traditional criminal classes and have been noted widely in the medical profession.

Association Between Risk and Protective Factors and the Mental Health Status of Youth in the Juvenile Justice System

The Social Development Model specifies how risk and protective factors predict delinquency. This research sought to extend the Social Development Model by using risk and protective factors to also predict mental health status. The purposive sample included 145 adjudicated youth (ages 12-18 years) from Multnomah, Polk, and Umatilla counties in Oregon. Data was collected by self-report and a survey completed by court counselors. Mental health status was measured by the MHI-5, a subset of the SF-36 (Ware, Kosinski, & Keller, 1994), and the Internalizing subscale of the Youth Self-Report (Achenbach, 1991). Delinquency was measured by the Externalizing subscale of the Youth Self-Report. Risk and protective factors were measured using items selected from the Student Survey of Risk and Protective Factors and Prevalence of Alcohol, Tobacco, and other Drug Survey (Catalano, Hawkins, & Pollard, 1997). Five hypotheses were tested using hierarchical regression analysis, t-tests, ANOVA, and the z-statistic. The five major findings of this study include, first, risk and protective factors were significantly predictive of delinquency. Second, only risk factors were significantly correlated to the YSR Internalizing t-scores of these youth. While the combined effects of risk and protective factors were predictive of YSR Internalizing t-scores. Third, delinquency was found to be an intervening variable between risk and protective factors and YSR Internalizing t-scores. Fourth, there were no significant differences in mental health status between whites and youth of color. And fifth, while there was a significant difference in mental health status between males and females, the linear regression model failed to be significant for the female only sample.

Influence of Mental
Illness on the Criminal Justice System in Nigeria

The problem of mental illness has become unprecedented in the history of Nigeria. The paper gives detail insight into the issue of mental statue and conviction of criminals in Nigeria. Mental illness does not only associate with super natural factors but also with natural factors such as socio-economic situation of the country. The paper examines the Yoruba concept of "were amuntorunwa" "were afowofa" "were adayeba" and their influence on criminal justice system among Yoruba speaking people of Nigeria. In addition, the paper reviews how mental status influences criminal conviction in Nigeria. The study is exploratory in nature. Structured and unstructured interviews were conducted with 100 mentally ill inmates, 100 judges from four courts (25 judges from the Magistrate, High Court, Appeal Court, and Supreme Court of Nigeria), and 20 pathologists. The study reveals that mental illness caused by the socio-economic and political factors are higher than supernatural causes of mental illness. It also agreed unequivocally that pathological state of a criminal is a factor considered within the administration of criminal justice in Nigeria. A contributory factor is that most of the crimes committed by persons with mental illness involve murder, manslaughter, and sexual assault. Recommendations include "triangulation" poverty eradication program, a total institution for the destitute, and specially trained judges to hand a mental illness related cases.
Note: "were amuntorunwa" translates to mental illness caused by the supernatural
"were afowofa" translates to mental illness caused by the self "were adayeba" translates to mental illness caused by nature