Assignment task:
Depressive disorders encompass a wide range of mental health conditions. The underlying emotional changes are marked by a sad, empty, or irritable mood, and somatic and cognitive changes impacting the individual's ability to adequately function (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). This group of disorders includes a variety of well known conditions, including major depressive disorder and persistent depressive disorder. However, this is not an exhaustive list as an additional number of disorders fall under this category. At the cornerstone of anxiety disorders is excessive fear and anxiety, often leading to disturbances in behavior (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). When looking at the two key terms, anxiety can be described as an anticipation of future events, whereas fear is the emotional response one feels towards current events that pose an imminent threat. Further, fear results in surges in autonomic arousal that is needed to prepare the body for fight or flight (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). On the other hand, the way the body responds to anxiety is through becoming tense and vigilant as a way to prepare for future danger. The differentiating features when it comes to anxiety disorders can be found in what causes the fear, anxiety, or avoidance. In other words, they're differentiated by what situation or object would result in somebody acting in these ways (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). \
When looking at depression, anxiety, and criminal behavior, specifically conduct disorder, the presence of heightened cortisol reactivity is shown to be a common denominator (Huesmann et al., 2019). This trend appears to persist into the adult years, as anxiety is also known to have a positive association with antisocial behavior (Skeem & Cooke, 2010). Another connection is the motivating factors that underlie fear and anxiety. For example, an individual who is prone to think that something bad may happen to them is more likely to engage in reactive and proactive criminal behavior, to include weapon carrying (Huesmann et al., 2019). A fear of being attacked or involved in criminal behavior may predispose them to be aggressive, antisocial, or hostile and in doing so, get them caught up in criminal activity. Engaging in criminal behavior may have a cyclical effect, as committing crimes may result in higher levels of fear and anxiety in anticipation of being the subject of an attack or retaliation (Huesmann et al., 2019).
In a more recent study Huesmann et al. (2019) was able to identify that high levels of anxiety at age 30 were strongly correlated with criminal offending between 18 and 20, or 20 and 30. Similarly, high levels of anxiety at 19 is indicative of criminal offending between the ages of 21 and 30 (Huesmann et al., 2019). Depression at age 48 is reflective of committing criminal activity between the ages of 21 and 30, and 31-48, but not between 18 and 20. Additionally, other factors associated with criminal behavior, such as excessive substance abuse, go hand in hand with mental health conditions. In these cases, substance abuse may occur as a maladaptive means of coping with one's depression and anxiety (Kim et al., 2019). Building on that, in order to fund the substance abuse habits, individuals may engage in illegal behavior. Additionally, excessive consumption of substances may inhibit one's decision making abilities and in doing so increase their likelihood of committing crimes.
In looking at the findings amongst juvenile populations, anxiety appears to be more closely related to criminal behavior than depression. For example, from ages 5 to 15 rates of depression are shown to decrease in males, however, it is also during this period that instances of offending are said to increase (Jolliffe et al., 2019). With anxiety, low rates of offending and low levels of anxiety are said to go hand in hand. It is important to note that an alternative longitudinal study that analyzed 411 boys from ages 8 to 48 found that high levels of anxiety were predictive of low levels of offending (Jolliffe et al., 2019). Findings within psychopaths differ yet again, as those with psychopathic tendencies are said to have high levels of neuroticism and anxiety. These contradictory findings help to demonstrate the complex relationship between mental health and offending.
These findings have numerous forensic implications. As explained above, criminal behavior and mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression go hand in hand. Therefore, in order to deal with one, you must be informed of the other. According to Kim et al. (2019), prevention of substance use and delinquent problems early on can have lasting, positive ramifications. Therefore, forensic psychology professionals should not neglect to address communities and children with degrees of delinquency, as treating these individuals could be the catalyst for preventing additional criminal behavior down the line. Further, if someone is caught and sentenced for criminal behavior, but the mental health conditions go unaddressed, it is likely they will recidivate at higher rates than if they were addressed and treated.
References:
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. (5th ed.).
Huesmann, L. R., Boxer, P., Dubow, E. F., & Smith, C. (2019). Anxiety, depression, and offending in the Columbia County longitudinal study: A prospective analysis from late adolescence to middle adulthood. Journal of Criminal Justice, 62, 35-41.
Jolliffe, D., Farrington, D. P., Brunton-Smith, I., Loeber, R., Ahonen, L., & Palacios, A. P. (2018). Depression, anxiety and delinquency: Results from the Pittsburgh youth study. Journal of Criminal Justice, 62.
Kim, B. K. E., Gilman, A. B., Kosterman, R., & Hill, K. G. (2019). Longitudinal associations among depression, substance abuse, and crime: A test of competing hypotheses for driving mechanisms. Journal of Criminal Justice, 62, 50-57.
Skeem, J. L., & Cooke, D. J. (2010). Is criminal behavior a central component of psychopathy? Conceptual directions for resolving the debate. Psychological Assessment, 22(2), 433-445.
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