A comparison of youthful inmates who have committed violent versus nonviolent crimes

The incidence of violent crimes committed by youthful offenders in the United States is increasing. In this report, 150 inmates in a prison for youths (ages 14 to 24 years) who were treated by a psychiatrist were compared with 150 control subjects on several parameters including those who had committed violent crimes (V) versus those who had committed nonviolent crimes (NV). There were more similarities than differences between those who had committed V versus NV crimes. There was no statistically significant difference between the V and NV groups in most diagnostic categories, the Beck Hopelessness Scale, the IQ scale, the MMPI scores, job stability, and whether they were treated by a psychiatrist or not. There were, however, some significant differences. The V group was younger than the NV group; those with a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia disorder had committed V crimes, while those with a diagnosis of dysthymic disorder had committed NV crimes.