Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T23:37:25.919Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Risk and protective factors for offending among UK Armed Forces personnel after they leave service: a data linkage study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2019

Deirdre MacManus ,
Hannah Dickson ,
Roxanna Short Open the ORCID record for Roxanna Short [Opens in a new window] ,
Howard Burdett ,
Jamie Kwan ,
Margaret Jones ,
Lisa Hull ,
Simon Wessely  and
Nicola T. Fear
Deirdre MacManus*
Affiliation:
Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Science, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, 16 De Crespigny Park, LondonSe5 8AF, UK
Hannah Dickson
Affiliation:
Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Science, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, 16 De Crespigny Park, LondonSe5 8AF, UK
Roxanna Short
Affiliation:
Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Science, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, 16 De Crespigny Park, LondonSe5 8AF, UK
Howard Burdett
Affiliation:
King's Centre for Military Health Research, King's College London, Weston Education Centre, 10 Cutcombe Road, LondonSE5 9RJ, UK
Jamie Kwan
Affiliation:
King's Centre for Military Health Research, King's College London, Weston Education Centre, 10 Cutcombe Road, LondonSE5 9RJ, UK
Margaret Jones
Affiliation:
King's Centre for Military Health Research, King's College London, Weston Education Centre, 10 Cutcombe Road, LondonSE5 9RJ, UK
Lisa Hull
Affiliation:
King's Centre for Military Health Research, King's College London, Weston Education Centre, 10 Cutcombe Road, LondonSE5 9RJ, UK
Simon Wessely
Affiliation:
King's Centre for Military Health Research, King's College London, Weston Education Centre, 10 Cutcombe Road, LondonSE5 9RJ, UK
Nicola T. Fear
Affiliation:
King's Centre for Military Health Research, King's College London, Weston Education Centre, 10 Cutcombe Road, LondonSE5 9RJ, UK
*
Author for correspondence: Deirdre MacManus, E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

A proportion of ex-military personnel who develop mental health and social problems end up in the Criminal Justice System. A government review called for better understanding of pathways to offending among ex-military personnel to improve services and reduce reoffending. We utilised data linkage with criminal records to examine the patterns of offending among military personnel after they leave service and the associated risk (including mental health and alcohol problems) and socio-economic protective factors.

Method

Questionnaire data from a cohort study of 13 856 randomly selected UK military personnel were linked with national criminal records to examine changes in the rates of offending after leaving service.

Results

All types of offending increased after leaving service, with violent offending being the most prevalent. Offending was predicted by mental health and alcohol problems: probable PTSD, symptoms of common mental disorder and aggressive behaviour (verbal, property and threatened or actual physical aggression). Reduced risk of offending was associated with post-service socio-economic factors: absence of debt, stable housing and relationship satisfaction. These factors were associated with a reduced risk of offending in the presence of mental health risk factors.

Conclusions

Ex-military personnel are more likely to commit violent offences after leaving service than other offence-types. Mental health and alcohol problems are associated with increased risk of post-service offending, and socio-economic stability is associated with reduced risk of offending among military veterans with these problems. Efforts to reduce post-service offending should encompass management of socio-economic risk factors as well as mental health.

Keywords

Aggressionalcoholmental healthmilitaryoffendingprotective factorsPTSDrisk factorsveterans
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 51 , Issue 2 , January 2021 , pp. 236 - 243
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

ACPO (2012) ACPO Criminal Records Office Annual Report 2011/12. Association of Chief Police Officers: London.Google Scholar
Babor, T, Higgins-Biddle, JC, Saunders, JB and Monteiro, MG (2001) The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test: Guidelines for Use in Primary Care. Geneva: World Health Organization, pp. 1–40.Google Scholar
Blanchard, EB, Jones-Alexander, J, Buckley, TC and Forneris, CA (1996) Psychometric properties of the PTSD checklist (PCL). Behaviour Research and Therapy 34, 669–673.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bleise, P, Wright, K, Adler, A and Thomas, CPTJ (2004) Validation of the 90 to 120 day Post-Deployment Psychological Short Screen. Heidelberg, Germany: US Army Medical Research Unit – Europe, pp. 1–11.Google Scholar
DASA (2010) Estimating the Proportion of Prisoners in England and Wales who are ex-Armed Forces – Further Analysis. London: DASA.Google Scholar
Elbogen, EB, Johnson, SC, Newton, VM, Straits-Troster, K, Vasterling, JJ, Wagner, HR and Beckham, JC (2012 a) Criminal justice involvement, trauma, and negative affect in Iraq and Afghanistan war era veterans. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 80, 1097–1102.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Elbogen, EB, Johnson, SC, Wagner, HR, Newton, VM, Timko, C, Vasterling, JJ and Beckham, JC (2012 b) Protective factors and risk modification of violence in Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 73, e767–e773.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Elbogen, EB, Johnson, SC, Wagner, HR, Sullivan, C, Taft, CT and Beckham, JC (2014) Violent behaviour and post-traumatic stress disorder in US Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. The British Journal of Psychiatry 204, 368–375.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fear, NT, Iversen, A, Meltzer, H, Workman, L, Hull, L, Greenberg, N, Barker, C, Browne, T, Earnshaw, M, Horn, O, Jones, M, Murphy, D, Rona, RJ, Hotopf, M and Wessely, S (2007) Patterns of drinking in the UK Armed Forces. Addiction 102, 1749–1759.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fear, NT, Jones, M, Murphy, D, Hull, L, Iversen, AC, Coker, B, Machell, L, Sundin, J, Woodhead, C, Jones, N, Greenberg, N, Landau, S, Dandeker, C, Rona, RJ, Hotopf, M and Wessely, S (2010) What are the consequences of deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan on the mental health of the UK armed forces? A cohort study. The Lancet 375, 1783–1797.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goldberg, DP and Huxley, P (1992) Common Mental Disorders: a Bio-Social Model. New York, NY, USA: Tavistock/Routledge.Google Scholar
Goldberg, DP, Gater, R, Sartonius, N, Ustun, TB, Piccinelli, M, Gureje, O and Rutter, C (1997) The validity of two versions of the GHQ in the WHO study of mental illness in general health care. Psychological Medicine 27, 191–197.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goodwin, L, Wessely, S, Hotopf, M, Jones, M, Greenberg, N, Rona, RJ, Hull, L and Fear, NT (2015) Are common mental disorders more prevalent in the UK serving military compared to the general working population? Psychological Medicine 45, 1881–1891.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hotopf, M, Hull, L, Fear, NT, Browne, T, Horn, O, Iversen, A, Jones, M, Murphy, D, Bland, D, Earnshaw, M and Greenberg, N (2006) The health of UK military personnel who deployed to the 2003 Iraq war: a cohort study. The Lancet 367, 1731–1741.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Howard League for Penal Reform (2011) Inquiry Into Former Armed Service Personnel in Prison. London: Author.Google Scholar
Iversen, AC, van Staden, L, Hughes, JH, Greenberg, N, Hotopf, M, Rona, RJ, Thornicroft, G, Wessely, S and Fear, NT (2011) The stigma of mental health problems and other barriers to care in the UK Armed Forces. BMC Health Services Research 11, 31–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Killgore, WDS, Cotting, DI, Thomas, JL, Cox, AL, McGurk, D, Vo, AH, Castro, CA and Hoge, CW (2008) Post-combat invincibility: violent combat experiences are associated with increased risk-taking propensity following deployment. Journal of Psychiatric Research 42, 1112–1121.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
MacManus, D, Dean, K, Al Bakir, M, Iversen, AC, Hull, L, Fahy, T, Wessely, S and Fear, NT (2012) Violent behaviour in UK military personnel returning home after deployment. Psychological Medicine 42, 1663–1673.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
MacManus, D, Dean, K, Jones, M, Rona, RJ, Greenberg, N, Hull, L, Fahy, T, Wessely, S and Fear, NT (2013) Violent offending by UK military personnel deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan: a data linkage cohort study. The Lancet 381, 907–917.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
MacManus, D, Fossey, M, Watson, SE and Wessely, S (2015 a) Former armed forces personnel in the criminal justice system. The Lancet Psychiatry 2, 121–122.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
MacManus, D, Rona, R, Dickson, H, Somaini, G, Fear, N and Wessely, S (2015 b) Aggressive and violent behavior among military personnel deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan: prevalence and link with deployment and combat exposure. Epidemiologic Reviews 37, 196–212.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ministry of Justice (2014) Transforming Rehabilitation: a Summary of Evidence on Reducing Reoffending. London: Ministry of Justice.Google Scholar
NAPO (2008) Ex-Armed Forces Personnel and the Criminal Justice System: A Briefing From Napo the Trade Union and Professional Association for Family Court and Probation Staff. London: NAPO.Google Scholar
Phillips, S (2014) Former members of the Armed Forces and the Criminal Justice System. A review on behalf of the Secretary of State for Justice. London.Google Scholar
Prime, J, White, S, Liriano, S and Patel, K (2001) Criminal Careers of Those Born Between 1953 and 1978. Great Britain: Home Office, Research, Development and Statistics Directorate.Google Scholar
Rona, RJ, Jones, M, Hull, L, MacManus, D, Fear, NT and Wessely, S (2015) Anger in the UK Armed Forces: strong association with mental health, childhood antisocial behavior, and combat role. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 203, 15–22.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Short, R, Dickson, H, Greenberg, N and MacManus, D (2018) Offending behaviour, health and wellbeing of military veterans in the criminal justice system. PLoS ONE 13, e0207282.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
The Ministry of Defence (2015) The Armed Forces Covenant. UK: The Ministry of Defence, pp. 1–12.Google Scholar
Therneau, TM and Grambsch, PM (2013) Modeling Survival Data: Extending the Cox Model. New York, NY: Springer Science & Business Media.Google Scholar
Thomas, JL, Wilk, JE, Riviere, LA, Mcgurk, D, Castro, CA and Hoge, CW (2010) Prevalence of mental health problems and functional impairment among active component and National Guard soldiers 3 and 12 months following combat in Iraq. Archives of General Psychiatry 67, 614–623.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

MacManus et al. supplementary material

Figure S1

Download MacManus et al. supplementary material(File)
File 45.2 KB