An examination of the quality of psychiatric court reports for juvenile perpetrators of homicide

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the proportion of psychiatric reports prepared by experts in the field of child and adolescent psychiatry; to discuss the quality of information available in reports submitted to the court in juvenile homicide trials and to make recommendations for report content in these cases. An eight-year (1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004) cross-sectional survey of 363 juvenile homicide perpetrators in England and Wales was examined. In 45% (n ¼ 165) of the cases, at least one report was submitted to court. Of these, 61% (101 cases) were prepared by adult psychiatrists and 27% (44 cases) by child and adolescent psychiatrists. Information provided in reports varied depending on the author, with child and adolescent psychiatrists providing more detailed information on developmental items. Our results suggest that more efforts should be made to ensure the most appropriate expert is commissioned to provide a thorough assessment of the juvenile and their mental state at the time of the offence.

Psychiatric disorders in adolescent boys in detention: a preliminary prevalence and case–control study in two Chinese provinces

“…Detained adolescents with mental health problems are at increased risk of a range of adverse outcomes including premature mortality, suicide and death from other causes Rodway, Norrington-Moore, While et al, 2011), drug and alcohol problems (Chassin, Knight, Vargas-Chanes, Losoya, & Naranjo, 2009;McClelland, Elkington, Teplin, & Abram, 2004;Neighbors, Kempton, & Forehand, 1992;Palmer, Jinks, & Hatcher, 2010;Sacks et al, 2009), and increased rates of reoffending (Hollander & Turner, 1985;Ramchand, Morral, & Becker, 2009;Walter, Wiesbeck, Dittmann, & Graf, 2011). Thus, documenting the extent of psychiatric morbidity in different juvenile justice settings can assist in service development, setting priorities for funding, resource allocation, and treatment interventions (Brink, 2005;Quinn & Shera, 2009;Rodway, Norrington-Moore, Appleby, & Shaw, 2011;Sirdifield, Gojkovic, Brooker, & Ferriter, 2009). Furthermore, treating and managing these disorders will impact on public health, as the vast majority of juveniles in custody will be released back to their host communities.…”

The Unpredictability of Murder

“…We differentiate studies that analyze predictors of juvenile homicide vis-à-vis other violent offenders from other important literatures, for example, that examine the recidivism and institutional outcomes of juvenile homicide offenders (e.g., Drury & DeLisi, 2011;Hagan, 1997;Liem, 2013;Myers, Chan, Vo, & Lazarou, 2010;Trulson, Caudill, Haerle, & DeLisi, 2012;Trulson, DeLisi, & Marquart, 2011;Vries & Liem, 2011), linkages between homicide and criminal careers (DeLisi, Hochstetler, Jones-Johnson, Caudill, & Marquart, 2011;Vaughn, DeLisi, Beaver, & Howard, 2009), and forensic-oriented studies that investigate the psychopathology of juvenile murderers (e.g., Bailey, 1996;Myers et al, 2010;Myers, Scott, Burgess, & Burgess, 1995;Rodway, Norrington-Moore, Appleby, & Shaw, 2011;Roe-Sepowitz, 2007). 2.…”

Youth Who Kill in Turkey: A Study on Juvenile Homicide Offenders, Their Offenses, and Their Differences From Violent and Nonviolent Juvenile Delinquents

“…First, the literature on JHOs consistently indicated that the majority of these offenders were male (Baglivio & Wolff, 2017; Farrington, Loeber, & Berg, 2012; Hemenway & Solnick, 2017; Rodway et al, 2011a; Swart, Seedat, & Nel, 2015) and African American (in the United States; Hemenway & Solnick, 2017; Loeber et al, 2005). In addition, Ahonen, Loeber and Pardini (2016) found that the majority of the homicide offenders in their study were in their late teens.…”

“…In addition, in 2016, 5.4% of all homicides in Turkey were committed by juveniles. In comparison, approximately 6% of all homicides annually in England and Wales were committed by young people in previous years (Rodway et al, 2011a) and approximately 7% to 8% of all murders involved a juvenile offender in the United States between 2010 and 2014 (Baglivio & Wolff, 2017).…”