Fast D. and Conry, J. (2009). Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders and the Criminal Justice System.
Developmental Disabilities Research Review 15: 250 – 257.
This paper examines the relationship between the long-life nervous syndrome that is found in people with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs) and their participation in the criminal justice system. According to the article, the FASDs are caused by exposure to alcohol during the prenatal stage. The article provides some of the disabilities associated with people having the FASDs to include poor judgment, learning disabilities, and social ineptness. The authors argue that the foregoing disabilities make people predisposed to unfair treatment and increased involvement in the criminal l justice system. They contend that people with FASDs have increased tendency of getting involved in the criminal justice system as the accused, witnesses, or complainants. It is their increased involvement in the criminal justice system that prompts the authors to suggest that their condition be examined at every stage of the criminal justice system.
In their discussions, the authors reiterate the importance of raising the level of awareness of those working in the criminal justice system. They acknowledge the fact that there has been an increase of FASDs awareness among judges and lawyers but emphasize on the importance of training other staffs to reduce victimization of those with FASD. The article evaluates data showing that even people with higher intelligence quotient are not immune from the effects of FASDs. With regard to prevalence and cost of FASD, the authors provide information regarding the frequency at which FASD occur among children. They also discern two approaches that determining the association between the FASD and involvement in the criminal justice system. These approaches are: determining the existence of people with FASD within the correctional facilities and examining the history of the people with FASD in a bid to determine how many of them have been involved in the criminal justice system.
The article also considers the effects of alcohol on the developing brain. The authors are of the opinion that the mechanisms regarding which alcohol impairs developing brains are not clearly understood. They provide that the FASDs may be a disorder that is permanently hyperactive to stress such that people with FASD react to the stress leading to trouble with the law. The authors also attribute cognitive and behavioral abnormalities to effects of alcohol on the placenta and suggest that brain imaging may help to understand why people with FASDs develop behavioral problems.
The following article is supportive of the Fast and Conry article.
Cox, V., Clairmont, D., Cox, S. (2008). Knowledge and attitudes of criminal justice
professionals in relation to fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Canadian Journal for Clinical Pharmacology 15: e306–e313.
This article provides a provisional survey showing the level of awareness of the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder among judges and prosecutors. It is supportive of the Fast and Conry’s article in that the results of the survey show that prosecutors and judges have inadequate information regarding FASD. The results, just like Fast and Conry, propose that the judges and prosecutors should undergo more education and training regarding the FASDs. Accordingly, the findings of this article suggest that increased awareness regarding FASD among the judges and prosecutors would be of great benefit to the people with FASD and the larger criminal justice system. The authors also propose the establishment of a coordinated approach to the FASD in the criminal justice system and the development of clear practice parameters. This suggestion can be traced in the Fast and Conry’s article when they call for an education and training involving every individual involved in the criminal justice system.
Beaver, M. K. (2008). Nonshared Environmental Influences on Adolescent Delinquent
Involvement and Adult Criminal Behavior. Criminology, 46 (2): 341-369.
This article examines the relationship between the non-shared environment and behavior variation among the adolescents and adult criminal behavior. Beaver observes that there is not much research regarding the direct effects of the connection between the non-shared environment and the delinquent as well as adult involvement in criminal behavior. The article therefore sets out to provide comprehensive information regarding that connection. The article provides a study that tries to link the effects of non-shared environment and criminal behavior. To achieve this, the study involves the calculation of difference scores regarding a sample of 289 monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs. This approach is geared towards examining the effects of non-shared familial setting on delinquent involvement, self-control levels, adult criminal conduct, and interaction with anti-social peers. The results of the study show that non-shared familial settings are associated with the progress of self-control and delinquent involvement. The study also confirms that the non-shared familial settings are not connected to the anti-social consequences.
Beaver discusses the implications of the findings from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). He observes that the difference in the affinity to criminal behavior between people raised I different environments is caused by various factors. Some of the factors that the author believes are to blame for criminal behavior include parental socialization. To Beaver parental socialization is not likely to influence the delinquent involvement and low self-esteem according to the MZ twin pairs study. According to the study, the twins who have more maternal detachment exhibit low self-esteem and are get more involved in delinquency than the twins that have less maternal disengagement.
Beaver considers the previous interactive genetic studies that have provided the importance of non-shared environment in determining the delinquency involvement. He observes that the Add Health study reveals the opposite and wonders why this is the case. He observes that the explanation for the difference is the fact that the effects of the non-shared environment are reduced by the community divisions that involve the low-risk adolescents. Other explanations include that the Add Health information failed to factor respondents that had been severely abused, and that the information considered respondents that were relatively mundane. According to the article, the Add Health study fails to show the link between the non-shared environment and delinquency. Beaver links this failure to the study’s increased focus on the non-shared familial effects. He notes that there exist many non-shared environments and not just the differential treatment associated with parents. He also attributes this failure to the lack of consideration regarding the differences that exist between siblings that are not linked to genetics.
Beaver observes two limitations regarding the Add Health information that need to be addressed in future research. One, Beaver observes that the parental socialization was skewed in favor of mothers. He suggests that different results may have been realized had the study been more objective and includes the views of the fathers. The second limitation of the Add Health data is the fact that the study only considered MZ twin pairs. According to Beaver, using only MZ twin pairs in the study is limiting because the results cannot be generalized to the greater population that comprises of the non-twins. To correct the shortcomings, Beaver suggests that two siblings from each family should be used. He cautions the use of the SSSMs to analyze non-sibling samples because the approach lacks precision.
Beaver’s article is supported by:
Burt, A. S., McGue, M. Iacono, W. and Krueger, R. (2006). Differential parent-child
relationships and adolescent externalizing symptoms: Cross-lagged analyses within a monozygotic twin differences design. Developmental Psychology 42:1289–98.
This article relates to that of Beaver in that the authors recognize that differential parental treatment has a direct link to behavioral adaptations among siblings. Like Beaver, the authors acknowledge that the causation significance with regard to the correlation is blurred. Further, the study carried out in this article considers the monozygotic twin pairs. The results of the study are similar to those in Beaver’s article since the results show that differential parent-child engagements lead to differential siblings. However, in this article this observation relates to the discordant twin pairs. This is evidence that the differential parent-child relationships have a significant influence on the behavior of the adolescent. This finding is similar to that of the study carried out in the article by Beaver since it provides insights regarding environmental effects on behavior.
The contention as to whether the non-shared environment influences criminal behavior and to what extent requires inclusivity of all environmental factors, not just the relationship between parents and children. In the absence of inclusivity of all environmental factors the studies remain inconclusive as seen in the foregoing articles. This scenario only makes the studies speculative rather than practical.
References
Beaver, M. K. (2008). Nonshared Environmental Influences on Adolescent Delinquent
Involvement and Adult Criminal Behavior. Criminology, 46 (2): 341-369.
Burt, A. S., McGue, M. Iacono, W. and Krueger, R. (2006). Differential parent-child
relationships and adolescent externalizing symptoms: Cross-lagged analyses within a monozygotic twin differences design. Developmental Psychology, 42:1289–98.
Cox, V., Clairmont, D., Cox, S. (2008). Knowledge and attitudes of criminal justice
professionals in relation to fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Canadian Journal for Clinical Pharmacology, 15: 306–313.
Fast D. and Conry, J. (2009). Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders and the Criminal Justice System.
Developmental Disabilities Research Review, 15: 250 – 257.
