Violent recidivism among mentally disordered offenders in Japan.

BACKGROUND: A new forensic mental health law was enacted in Japan in 2003, enabling development of specialist services. Before their establishment, it is important to determine the nature, frequency and correlates of the problems they are designed to ameliorate. AIMS: To establish rates of violent recidivism among mentally disordered offenders before the new legislation, and examine associated risk factors. METHOD: Data were extracted from one complete annual (1980) national cohort of people judged by the Court or prosecutor to be without responsibility for a criminal offence, or of sufficiently diminished responsibility for it to be diverted for psychiatric treatment. The outcome measure was violent recidivism after community discharge and before 1991. RESULTS: Fifty-two (10%) of 489 in the cohort were arrested or convicted of further violent offences. Violent recidivism was most strongly associated with a substance-related disorder, but histories of violence, homelessness and short index admissions were independently related. CONCLUSIONS: Violent recidivism was so unusual that, on this outcome, it could take many years to show any effect of the new service. Desistance from substance use, compliance with treatment and maintenance of stable housing may be better indicators of success, and their achievement a good preventive strategy.

[Association between substance abuse problems and antisocial tendencies in male juvenile delinquents: A study using the Psychopathy Checklist, Youth Version].

AIMS: We examined an association between substance abuse problems and antisocial tendencies in male juvenile delinquents. METHODS: Subjects were 57 male adolescents consecutively incarcerated between December 2004 and February 2005 in a juvenile classification home. A self-reporting questionnaire was used to assess substance abuse problems in the subjects: Drug abuse problems were assessed by the Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST-20), and alcohol abuse problems were assessed by the Quantities-Frequencies Scale (QFS). A semi-structured interview was also preformed according to the Psychopathy Checklist, Youth Version (PCL: YV). Associations between questionnaire responses and interview findings were examined using Pearson's correlation or Spearman's rank correlation test. RESULTS: Of our subjects, the 17.5% were recognized as a problematic drug abuser, and the 52.6% as a problematic drinker. Neither of the total DAST-20 nor QFS score was significantly correlated with the total PCL: YV score, and also with each score of the four PCL: YV subfactors. However, significant correlations were found between some items on the PCL: YV and the DAST-20 or QFS score. The DAST score was significant correlated with the PCL: YV item, "impression management" (rs=0.35, p<0.001), and the QFS score was significant correlated with "serious violations of conditional release" (rs=0.33, p<0.05) and "criminal versatility" (rs=0.48, p<0.001). CONCLUSION: More than a half of male juvenile delinquents had alcohol abuse problems. Alcohol intake may be considered to promote repetition and diversification of their antisocial behaviors, although overall antisocial tendencies were not associated with drug and alcohol abuse problems in male juvenile delinquents.

Deliberate self-harm and childhood hyperactivity in junior high school students.

The present study aimed to explore the status of deliberate self-harm (DSH) among junior high-school students, and investigate the relationship between DSH and substance use and childhood hyperactivity. Subjects were 239 boys (mean age = 14.16 years, SD = 0.67) and 238 girls (14.22, 0.68) from a junior high-school in Kanagawa, Japan. A self-reporting questionnaire consisting of original questions on self-cutting, self-hitting, and tobacco and alcohol use was employed with the Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS) for assessing childhood hyperactivity. Overall, 8.00% and 27.70% of males and 9.30% and 12.20% of females reported self-cutting and self-hitting, respectively. Regarding substance use, 33.10% and 74.10% of males and 14.30% and 63.40% of females reported tobacco and alcohol use, respectively. Comparisons of WURS scores between those with and without experience of problematic behaviors revealed that with all problematic behaviors in both genders, scores of those with experience were significantly higher than those without (P < 0.01 except for self-cutting in females, P < 0.05). The present study indicated that DSH is an important problem, even among children as young as junior high-school age. An association between DSH and childhood hyperactivity was also suggested.

Characteristics of self-cutters among male inmates: association with bulimia and dissociation.

It was examined whether bulimia and dissociation are common in male self-cutters, as has been found in female self-cutters. The subjects were 796 male inmates of a juvenile prison. A self-reporting questionnaire was used to assess self-cutting, histories of psychoactive substance use, problem behaviors, and traumatic life events in the subjects. The Adolescent Dissociative Experience Scale and the Bulimia Investigatory Test of Edinburgh were also used. Subjects were divided into two groups: self-cutting and non-cutting. Questionnaire responses and dissociation and bulimia assessments were compared between the groups. Self-cutters began smoking (P < 0.001) and drinking (P < 0.001) earlier, and more frequently used illicit psychoactive drugs (P < 0.001), experienced childhood physical abuse (P < 0.001), and reported suicide attempts (P < 0.001), suicidal ideation (P < 0.001), and outward violence toward a person (P < 0.001) or object (P < 0.001) than non-cutters. Self-cutters also scored significantly higher on the bulimia (P < 0.001) and dissociation tests (P < 0.001). Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that suicide attempt (odds ratio, 4.311) and suicidal ideation (odds ratio, 2.336) could discriminate between male inmates with and without self-cutting. Male self-cutters showed 'multi-impulsive bulimic' tendencies resembling those of female self-cutters, although to a lesser extent. Clinical features of male as opposed to female self-cutters were influenced by gender differences.

Improved Saunders method for the analysis of lateral shearing interferograms.

An interferogram obtained by use of ordinary interferometers, such as Fizeau and Twyman-Green interferometers, will show a contour map of the wave front under test. A lateral-shearing interferogram, however, will show a contour map of the difference between the wave front under test and a sheared wave front, that is, a contour map of the derivative of the wave front under test. Therefore one can reconstruct the shape of the wave front under test by analyzing that difference. Many methods for reconstructing a wave front have been proposed. The Saunders method reconstructs a wave front; rapidly however the wave-front data are reconstructed only at intervals of the amount of shear along the direction of the shear. Therefore the method has low spatial resolution. A method for reconstructing a wave front that is based on the Saunders method and has high spatial resolution is proposed. The method analyzes the differences that are produced by shearing of the wave front under test in many directions. This method requires a large number of interferograms for reconstructing the wave front. Here the method is described, and its validity is confirmed by simulation.