Brief Report: Perspective Taking Deficits, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Allaying Police Officers' Suspicions About Criminal Involvement.

We examined whether perspective taking (or Theory of Mind) deficits that characterize autistic individuals predict whether they have trouble extricating themselves from situations in which police officers erroneously suspect them of a crime. Autistic and typically developing adults listened to scenarios in which they were placed in situations where the police erroneously believe they had been involved in crime. Each scenario contained critical information that, if recognized and provided to the police, would confirm non-involvement in the crime. Autistic adults performed markedly worse than controls on perspective taking measures and the extrication task. Verbal IQ and memory performance accounted for significant variance in extrication performance, and perspective taking explained an additional and significant 15% of variance in extrication performance.

Criminal justice involvement of crack cocaine users in the city of Rio de Janeiro and Greater Metropolitan Area: Implications for public health and the public security agenda.

BACKGROUND: The international literature has expressed different and sometimes contrasting perspectives when addressing criminal involvement by crack cocaine users, highlighting psychopharmacological aspects, the cycles of craving and pressing economic need, and the interplay with overall deprivation and structural violence. The current study aims to identify variables associated with the arrest and imprisonment of regular crack cocaine users. METHODS: Interviewees were recruited from open drug scenes in the city of Rio de Janeiro and Greater Metropolitan Area from September 2011 to June 2013. Multilevel logistic regression models were fitted to the data. RESULTS: Most of the recruited crack cocaine users were male (78.2% [95%CI: 76.3-79.4]), 18-30 years old (64.7% [95%CI: 62.5-66.2]), non-white (92.9% [95%CI: 91.2-93.4]), single (68.9% [95%CI: 66.8-70.3]), and with 0-7 years of schooling (70.6% [95%CI: 68.5-71.9]). Factors independently associated with arrest were history of inpatient addiction treatment (adjOR 4.31 [95%CI: 1.70-11.32]); male gender (adjOR 2.05 [95%CI: 1.40-3.04); polydrug use (adjOR 1.82 [95%CI: 1.32-2.51]); and 0 to 7 years of schooling (adjOR 1.64 [95%CI: 1.17-2.32]). As for the outcome variable lifetime history of incarceration, the independently associated factors were: male gender (adjOR 2.47 [95%CI: 1.74-3.55]) and longer use of crack cocaine and related substances (e.g., free base and local varieties/denominations of coca products) (adjOR 1.05 [95%CI: 1.01-1.10]). CONCLUSION: The study's findings support the use of comprehensive multisector interventions, integrating health promotion and mental health rehabilitation, access to quality education, and management of combined/concomitant use of different substances to reduce and/or prevent criminal involvement by individuals that use crack cocaine and other substances, as well as to prevent/manage relapse.

Justice involvement among homeless individuals with mental illnesses: Are self-report and administrative measures comparable?

Individuals with mental illnesses who experience homelessness have frequent interactions with the criminal justice system. Correctly measuring this involvement is essential to develop and evaluate the efficacy of intervention programs. Criminal justice involvement is typically assessed through administrative records or self-reported accounts. The aims of this study are to: 1) assess agreement between self-report and administrative data related to court appearances, and 2) identify individual characteristics that affect discrepancies between sources. Participants were 468 homeless persons with mental illness from the Montreal site of the At Home/Chez Soi randomized controlled trial, in Canada. Self-reported data was collected through an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Administrative data was collected through provincial and municipal court databases. Overall, agreement was good. Discrepancies were more common among those with a diagnosis of mood disorder with psychotic features, and those with a criminal history. Increased age and interviewer's perception of sincerity and interest increased likelihood of concordance. Generally, high agreement between self-report and administrative data suggests that either source can provide reliable information. Further work to understand predictors of discrepancies could further enhance the quality of data collected through these different sources.

A inter-relação entre o uso do crack emcenas abertas e envolvimento com a justiça criminal no município do Rio de Janeiro

No Brasil, o consumo de crack em cenas abertas tem sido associado, pelo senso comum e grande mídia à problemas relacionados à violência, desordem urbana e criminalidade nas grandes cidades. Todavia os estudos sobre este tema no Brasil são pouquíssimos. Sendo assim, no primeiro artigo da tese, identificamos variáveis preditoras para detenção e prisão dos usuários de crack e similares no município do Rio de Janeiroe Região Metropolitana, no período de setembro de 2011 a junho de 2013, através de modelos de regressão logística multinível. As variáveis que se mostraram preditoras de detenção e/ou prisão foram: ter utilizado leito de internação clínica, ser do sexo masculino, ser poliusuário, ter de 0 a 7 anos de estudo, raça/cor “preto” e acréscimo de 1ano no tempo de uso de crack e similares. No segundo artigo, buscamos verificar a possível associação entre um conjunto de cenas abertas de uso de crack com a ocorrência de determinados crimes em seu entorno, no município do Rio de Janeiro, no período de janeiro de 2011 a outubro de 2012, através de um modelo de regressão linear múltipla.As análises evidenciam para uma possível associação entre as cenas abertas de uso de crack e crimes contra propriedade, assim como diferença significativa na média de crimes contra propriedade entre as cenas que estavam localizadas em “favelas” em relação àquelas que estavam localizadas no “asfalto”. Os resultados apontam associações de algumas variáveis no nível individual com detenção e prisão e associação espacial das cenas abertas com os crimes no entorno, tornando-se necessárias intervenções multisetoriais, que considerem a promoção da saúde, o acesso dos usuários aos serviços,o manejo do uso de múltiplas drogas, a diminuição da evasão escolar, alternativas não repressoras para lidar com o uso de drogas em espaço públicos dando prioridade aos programas de abordagem de saúde e assistência social.

In Brazil, crack use in open scenes have been linked by common sense andmainstream media on issues related to violence, urban disorder and criminality in largecities. However studies on this topic in Brazil are very few. Thus, in the first article of thethesis, we identified predictors for arrest and detention of crack and similar users in thecity of Rio de Janeiro and the metropolitan area, from September 2011 to June 2013, bylogistic regression models multilevel. The variables that were predictive of detention and/ or imprisonment were: use of clinical hospital bed, being male, being poliusuário, have0-7 years of education, race/color "black" and 1-year increase in time crack and similaruse. In the second article, we seek to verify the possible association between a set ofscenes open crack use with the occurrence of certain crimes in their surroundings, in thecity of Rio de Janeiro, from January 2011 to October 2012, through a multiple linearregression model. The analyzes show for a possible association between the open crackscenes of use and crimes against property, as well as significant difference in mean crimesagainst property between scenes that were located in "favelas" than those who werelocated in the "asphalt”. The results show associations of some variables at the individuallevel with arrest and detention and spatial association of scenes open with the crimes inthe surroundings, making it necessary multisectoral interventions that consider healthpromotion, user access to services, the management of multiple drug use, reduction ofschool supply, not repressive alternatives to deal with the use of public space in drugsgiving priority to health approach to programs and social assistance.

The Effects of Collateral Consequences of Criminal Involvement on Employment, Use of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and Health.

Criminal convictions are often associated with collateral consequences that limit access to the forms of employment and social services on which disadvantaged women most frequently rely--regardless of the severity of the offense. These consequences may play an important role in perpetuating health disparities by socioeconomic status and gender. We examined the extent to which research studies to date have assessed whether a criminal conviction might influence women's health by limiting access to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and employment, as a secondary, or "collateral" criminal conviction-related consequence. We reviewed 434 peer-reviewed journal articles retrieved from three electronic article databases and 197 research reports from three research organizations. Two reviewers independently extracted data from each eligible article or report using a standardized coding scheme. Of the sixteen eligible studies included in the review, most were descriptive. None explored whether receiving TANF modified health outcomes, despite its potential to do so. Researchers to date have not fully examined the causal pathways that could link employment, receiving TANF, and health, especially for disadvantaged women. Future research is needed to address this gap and to understand better the potential consequences of the criminal justice system involvement on the health of this vulnerable population.

Static and dynamic predictors of criminal involvement among people with heroin dependence: findings from a 3-year longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: The link between heroin use and crime has been well established; however, there has been little opportunity to examine this relationship longitudinally. This study examines the relationship between static and dynamic predictors of criminal involvement, and the degree to which changes in dynamic risk factors moderate the risk of criminal involvement over time. METHOD: Data were collected as part of the Australian treatment outcome study, a 3-year longitudinal study of 615 people with heroin dependence conducted in Sydney, Australia. Past-month criminal involvement (property crime, drug dealing, fraud, violent crime), demographic, drug use and mental health characteristics were assessed at each interview. RESULTS: Criminal involvement was consistently and independently predicted by lack of wage/salary as a main source of income, (OR 2.17), meeting diagnostic criteria for anti-social personality disorder (OR 1.91) and major depression (OR 1.41), screening positive for borderline personality disorder (OR 1.47), male sex (OR 1.44), a criminal history (OR 1.33), greater severity of dependence (OR 1.21), more extensive heroin use (OR 1.09), and younger age (OR 0.96) over the 3-year period. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide strong evidence of the robust nature of the association between more extensive heroin use, severity of dependence, the co-occurrence of mental health conditions, and an individual's capacity for employment, and criminal involvement. Interventions aimed at increasing an individual's employability and improving mental health in particular, may reduce the risk of criminal involvement among people with heroin dependence.