Understanding Violent Offenders

for Risk Management

Anna C. Salter
Scott Rubin-Asch
Affective Precursors
Mental Health Issues
 Negativeaffect
Depression
Anxiety
Boredom

 Entitlement

 Grievance, Paranoia, Resentment

 Gang Banger

“I would try to live a life. I don’t know how

to live. Everything comes to survival.
Living life and enjoying life is different from
being in survival camp. I never really sat
back and enjoyed days and weeks where I
didn’t have no worries about whether I’d
breathe. This is the last time I’m going to
breathe.”
 Washington
Deaths of Friends
 2000 Moki
 2001 Will
 2002 Earl.
 2003 Eric and Jonquel
 2004 Drew
 2005 Glenn and Little Dre
 2006 Ryan
 2007 Troy
 2008 Crow
 Resentment
“I started remembering everything.
Everything. The death, the pain. I used to
get mad. I still do. When I hear people
laugh I get mad. Why is life so much fun
for you and not for me?.”
Violent Cognitions
 Theories of Violence
 Loss of Control

 Product of Distorted Thinking

 Loss of Control
 Impulse Control

 Stop and Think

 Exit Risky Situations

 Loss of Control
 Interviews 20 Violent Offenders

 Meaning Units = Phrases

Loss of Control
12%

(Polaschek et a., 2010)

 Violent Schemas
 Violence is Normal
 No Choice

 Hostile Attribution Bias

 Social Status

 Self Image

 Victim Deserved It (Widget Theory)

 Violence is Normal

 Normal for discipline

 Normal for achieving goals

Elway: Attacked Officer – Stabbed
in Head
 “I feel like it was justified. The only thing
was my objective wasn’t fully completed.
But other than that.”
 
Q. “What was your objective?”

A. “To kill him. I wasn’t stabbing him just to

be stabbing.”
 Elway: Effect on Victims?
A. “Probably none.”
Q. “Why not?”
 A. “Cause none of them are dead or paralyzed.”
 Q. “So it wouldn’t have any effect?”
A. “I think it will on certain people – like young,
someone 14 or probably people who live in an
area where it’s pretty much peaceful and
nonviolent so it would be strange to see
anything violent.”
 Elway: Violence is Normal
“ The rest of us live in a pretty violent atmosphere
and it’s pretty normal – anybody who works in
DOC it wouldn’t have any effect unless they’re
dead or paralyzed or give them a big scar on
their face so they have to look at it every day.
So if I attack an officer that’s what I’d try to do,
so they’re dead or paralyzed or they have to
see it every day and know I did it to them.”
 Hit a Man on a Bike with His Car
Just to See What It Would Do to
Him

“Do I consider myself a criminal? No.

Basically just doing stuff, just breaking the
law.”
 
 Why Not a Criminal?
“A criminal is one who terminally focuses on
doing crime. They don’t just think about
it on the spur of the moment. Criminals
plan it more. They scheme. I don’t ever
scheme.”
 
Home Invasion Looking for Drugs:
Killed a Man and a 7 Month
Pregnant Woman – Couple Had No
Drugs
“ It was part of the way I was living. It didn’t
feel right or wrong. Actually, it didn’t feel
wrong. It felt I was forced to do something
I really didn’t want to do, but . . . it
happened.”
 No Choice – Domestic Violence

“She wouldn’t listen to me unless I hit her

first.”
(Polaschek et a., 2010, p. 87)
 No Choice: Discipline
“How else was I going to get through to him
that schoolwork was important?”
(Polaschek et a., 2010, p. 87)
 Gang Member
Q. Do you feel bad about the people you killed?

A. I don't talk about that. . . . When the incident

first took place I didn't have no remorse at all
because I thought it was the right thing. But I
have thought about it and I think I was wrong for
what took place on that day.
Q. How do you know you were wrong?

A. The situation and the circumstances. Cause I didn't

have to do it. It was all over territory and I had to
prove my loyalty. I thought that was right. That's what
I had to do to be accepted in the Gangster
Disciples. . . . You're the first person I ever said
anything about it to. . . . It was absolutely wrong. It
was an utter mistake.
 “But you have to understand that. You may have
grown up in a different family. But I grew up Chicago
where people die every day. In order to be in a
certain organization you have to do certain things.
And me being brainwashed in that way I had to do
that thing. And it protected me. Because I could go
to somebody and they would protect me. ‘Hey man,
let's go shoot up those n. . . . Let's take their family
hostage and teach them a lesson.’ That's how I was
taught.”
“Violent prisoners spoke of violence as a
routine occurrence between people that
hardly needs explaining and that could be
helpful in achieving some personal and
social goals.”
(Polaschek et a., 2010, p. 86)
Violence is Normal
Meaning Units

46%

(Polaschek et al., 2010)

“Violence ‘resolves’ conflicts, ‘persuades’
others to do things, can be exhilarating or
simply make you feel better, and usually it
makes others treat you with respect.”
(Polaschek et a., 2010, p. 86)
Self Image
Self-Images and Interpretations
 Nonviolent

 Occasionally Violent

 Continually Violent
 “I guess when you’re young, you want to
be feared, you want to be respected.”
 Violent Self Image
“I’m a man, and I want to be treated like a
man. . . I don’t care who a person is or who
they think they are either; they better not play
around with me. I’ll show them who in the hell
they’re playing with. They’ll find out fast they
aren’t fucking with any boy when they fuck with
me. . . I’ve ruined more than one good man in
my time, and Jack, I’ll do it again too. That’s
the way I am and that’s the way I’ll be until the
day I die.”
(Athens, 1997, p. 57)
 Shot an Officer, a Deputy and
Escaped from Vehicle
“I had a lot of time. I didn’t want to do the time. I had
to do something for myself. I tried to help myself. I
owed that to myself to try to regain my freedom. I
was going to leave the country and never come back.
I was quite young then, compared to what I am now
and fearless [pride expression] -- intrepid at that time
--and didn’t think the way I think now. I would be
more concerned about my welfare now and my family
– something happen to me what would they think –
then I didn’t consider those things.”
Self-Image/Social Status
Meaning Units = Phrases

20 violent offenders

57% of Meaning Units

Self Image
(Polaschek et al., 2010)
 Social Status
Q. Whose responsibility were these offenses?

A. “I don’t know how to put it into sense. The 07 it

was all about my second baby mother. She was
pregnant with my youngest son. I didn’t have no
job. I just came home. I was out hustling. Even
though I was hustling I was spending money on
frivolous shit. I tried to justify that I wanted to get
that money to provide for my son. But the truth of
the matter is I couldn’t let a dude do me like that. .
If you back down from one battle you open up the
door to many more. You let one cat run on you;
everybody is going to run on you. He thought I
was sweet. . . . I couldn’t stand on it.”
 Washington
Home Invasion Looking for Drugs
Q. Didn’t shoot anybody? Could have shot somebody.
A. There were no limits. To be honest, . . . from a
cultural aspect we live on the streets. It’s like a
gang . . . I had an older guy tell me that if I showed
him a man who was afraid to die he’d show me a
coward. Death is a very important concept in the
streets. Until you can conquer your fear of death and
aren’t afraid to die, you are not mentally and
emotionally ready to live in the streets. But on the flip
side of that you can’t be afraid to kill. . . . It’s a tool of
intimidation. If people on the streets know you are
willing to kill and commit murder, people they just think
twice before messing with you.”
 Washington
Home Invasion Looking for Drugs
 “But just because you say you are willing to kill
or murder isn’t enough, people need to know
these aren’t hollow threats, there are times you
have to show it’s actually true. . . the ultimate
limit in the street is if you are willing to commit
murder. If you are willing to commit murder
there are no limits.”
 Washington
Home Invasion Looking for Drugs
“If you take 50 guys in the gang, you have about 8 or 9
or 10 guys that are willing to commit the act of murder.
The other guys, the reason they don’t commit the act
is they think they might go to prison. But the other
guys they can use that to intimidate the guys who
won’t commit the act. We know you aren’t willing to
do this, so we are tougher than you. . . What makes
us dangerous is that we don’t care about the law. . .
Back then it was me trying to live up to this image. It
was like a contest to see who could be the most
intimidating and the most dangerous. And part of
being intimidating and dangerous is convincing people
that you don’t care about the law.”
“My son was getting into fights at school. So
I taught both sons to box after school, so
they could defend themselves. I didn’t
want my sons looking like [cowards] or
being walking [sic] over by every Tom,
Dick, or Harry. Everyone needs respect.”
(Polaschek et a., 2010, p. 87)
 Victim Deserved It
(Well Maybe Not Personally)

Widget Theory
“I don’t attack people who have done
nothing to me. I go after people who have
done something to me. Who have hurt
me. I have to have a reason.”
Victim Didn’t Provoke It
Personally BUT . . .

 Works for the man

 Who cares?
 Leroy
 Staff alone in booth
 Left booth to make snack for unit
 His door unlocked
 “Don’t hurt me”
 Beat her head on floor repeatedly –
multiple skull fractures
 Stripped her, dragged her 117’ and left her
16-Year-Old After Battery and Attempted
Homicide of Female Staff Member:
Leroy
 “It didn’t matter who was in the booth, . . I was
gonna go, and it didn’t matter who was there. I
was gonna fight them and take them down. It’s
not very hard to take that little puny pathetic staff
down. I’d rather be dead than locked up. .. . I told
the staff six months ago I was gonna get out no
matter what, and when I got out I was gonna strip
them naked and drag their assess down the hall
and put them in that room where they put us.”
 Leroy
 “I heard it crack when her head hit. At first it
surprised me. I told her to shut up, but she
wouldn’t. She cried louder. . . I slammed her dead
down on the floor. I had a limited time to get out of
there. I was running out of time. The guards were
checking every ten minutes. I slammed her head
against the floor four more times because she
wouldn’t shut up. I was fixing to break her neck.
Every time I slammed her head on the floor, I heard
her bone crack.”
 Leroy
 “She was quiet for a minute after the third time
and I thought that was it, but then she started
moving again, so I did it two more times. I
thought she was dead. I didn’t care. I was
gonna kill any staff. It didn’t matter to me.”
 Leroy
 “Q. Do you know the difference in right
and wrong?”

 A. “I don’t think about right and wrong. I’m

cold-hearted.”
 Leroy
 Q. “Did you think you were doing anything
wrong?”

 A. “No, cause I was thinking I got three

minutes to leave before they come.”
 Impact on Victim: Leroy
At sentencing
 Headaches every day, sometimes excruciating
 Dizziness
 Nausea
 Permanent loss of smell and taste
 Neck and back pain
 Some days couldn’t get out of bed
 Couldn’t drive
 Wouldn’t be alone
 Nightmares, flashbacks
 Impact on Victim: Leroy
 Sensitive to light, noise and motion
 Left alone for a few hours – locked self in
bathroom
 Impact on Victims:
Leroy’s Response
 “I’m not sure? I’m not going to go off into
the guessing. I only know what they put in
the files and none of that has been
substantiated. . . It’s only her side of the
story, the side of the story that they want
to portray. “
 Leroy’s Response
 “All this was is battery. I got railroaded.”
 Callousness: Ethan
 Robbed and beat 86 year-old woman

 Robbed 74 year-old woman

Impact on Victim: Ethan
 Deteriorated

 Unable to live alone

 Incoherent within months

 Ethan: Narcissism
 Q. “How do you feel about little old lady deteriorating? “
 A. “She took a deposition. Are you sure it’s him? She
didn’t want to say it was me. She started to waiver. She
was a school teacher. She knew they were going to hang
me. She didn’t want that to happen. I believe. She told a
story about some horse thieves . . . the posse came along
and arrested all of them. . . a young boy was there and
they tried to hang him too . . she asked the detective was
this right? That’s the parable she tried to tell him. I
believe it was a message to me. . . I will always honor her
for that as I honor all women.”
 Ethan
 Q. “She got beaten.”

 A. “Yes, but she resisted. This woman fought me as

hard as anybody could fight. I know how it looks. I
was not intending to use any more force than I needed
to. This woman fought me fiercely. Never for one
moment did she admit. I was saying, ‘Lady, lady
please.’ Yes, she got beat but I know in my heart I
didn’t do it sadistically and I didn’t do it any more than
was necessary.”
  
 Ethan
 “We are in a society that lacks mercy.
They want to punish a guy forever.”
 Attacked Officers in Jail
 “That incident in the county jail it wasn’t personal. It
wasn’t one of those things that officer so and so is
working today – whoever was working – it was going
to happen. . . You go into that situation knowing . . .
Just like if you go in a robbery with a gun, you don’t
think you are going to kill someone. But you know
you need to take the gun in the robbery because you
might need to kill someone. Of course that’s wrong.
But you don’t care. Why should I care? That’s why
you need to get to the point where you care.”
Callousness & Lack of Remorse
 Washington
Home Invasion for Drugs
“From a little kid to teenager, it’s a culture of criminality that’s
ingrained in you. From the music you listen to, to the type of
activities you engage in. It’s always robbing people, taking
other’s material possessions it’s like a collective preference,
just for, again, my culture. We kind of live our lives looking for
the big sting or the big heist. We don’t . . .we feel like we are
willing to sacrifice anything to get the big heist. We don’t care
what kind of pain or injury we inflict, nothing like that. . . The
only thing I could think about was the cash and the marijuana. I
didn’t care who I had to hurt or harm to get to it. I basically felt
like any harm I did was collateral damage. . . I had an ability to
be desensitized to violence. It really didn’t impact me as much.
 Home Invasion Looking for Drugs
It was a big dog. I thought it had the potential to
threaten me. I just shot it.
Q. Did it bother you at all?
A. It took a long time to have any reaction to it. The only
time I had any reaction to it was when I saw how much
it hurt the victims. But I didn’t understand it until I
began to understand main stream society. In the
ghetto we don’t’ attach that much sentimental
attachment to pets. If we have cats, it’s to catch mice.
The only dogs we have are pit bulls and that is to fight
them. .
It’s only in the last few years that I have
began to understand the American family
and the fact that pets are an integral part
of the family.
Inability to Bond
 Shallow Affect
 Q. “ Were you ever in love?”

 A. “I was very much emotionally attached to all

of them in a sense. I don’t want to say I was in
love with them because I still don’t know what
love is.”
 Shallow Affect (continued)
 “I exposed myself – I did in some sense – I don’t
mean any disrespect when I say this – women – you
demand some kind of connection – you hunger for
something more than a mutual friendship. Eventually
they wore me down in the sense that I did tell them
certain things but I did this in a way that if they said
something to someone else I would know who said
it.”
Creation of Violence

 Violent Subjugation

 Personal Horrification

 Violent Coaching
 Interaction of Genes and
Environment

Males with low MAOA activity allele

(specific gene)
+
Childhood maltreatment

Increased antisocial behavior

(Beaver, 2008)
Genetic Contribution to Violent
Behavior

½ Variance in antisocial behavior

Due to genetic factors

( Beaver, 2008; Mason & Frick, 1994; Miles

& Carey, 1997; Rhee & Wald, 2002)
 Genetics & Environment

Interactive

(Rowe, 2002; Rutter, 2006; Walsh, 2002)