Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T19:14:49.192Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Threats to kill: a follow-up study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 October 2007

L. J. Warren ,
P. E. Mullen ,
S. D. M. Thomas ,
J. R. P. Ogloff  and
P. M. Burgess
L. J. Warren
Affiliation:
Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health and Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science, School of Psychology, Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine, Monash University, Australia
P. E. Mullen*
Affiliation:
Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health and Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science, School of Psychology, Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine, Monash University, Australia
S. D. M. Thomas
Affiliation:
Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health and Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science, School of Psychology, Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine, Monash University, Australia
J. R. P. Ogloff
Affiliation:
Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health and Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science, School of Psychology, Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine, Monash University, Australia
P. M. Burgess
Affiliation:
University of Queensland, Australia
*
*Address for correspondence: P. E Mullen, D.Sc., FRC Psych., Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health, Locked Bag 10, Fairfield, Victoria, Australia3078. (Email: [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Mental health clinicians are frequently asked to assess the risks presented by patients making threats to kill, but there are almost no data to guide such an evaluation.

Method

This data linkage study examined serious violence following making threats to kill and the potential role of mental disorder. A total of 613 individuals convicted of threats to kill had their prior contact with public mental health services established at the time of the index offence. The group's subsequent criminal convictions were established 10 years later using the police database. Death from suicidal or homicidal violence was also established.

Results

Within 10 years, 44% of threateners were convicted of further violent offending, including 19 (3%) homicides. Those with histories of psychiatric contact (40%) had a higher rate (58%) of subsequent violence. The highest risks were in substance misusers, mentally disordered, young, and those without prior criminal convictions. Homicidal violence was most frequent among threateners with a schizophrenic illness. Sixteen threateners (2.6%) killed themselves, and three were murdered.

Conclusions

In contrast to the claims in the literature that threats are not predictive of subsequent violence, this study revealed high rates of assault and even homicide following threats to kill. The mentally disordered were over-represented among threat offenders and among those at high risk of subsequent violence. The mentally disordered threateners at highest risk of violence were young, substance abusing, but not necessarily with prior convictions. Those who threaten others were also found to be at greater risk of killing themselves or being killed.

Keywords

Crimerisk assessmentthreatsviolence
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 38 , Issue 4 , April 2008 , pp. 599 - 605
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

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

Australian Institute of Criminology (2001). Volume of crime. In Australian Crime: Facts and Figures, pp. 1–19. Australian Institute of Criminology: Canberra.Google Scholar
Barnes, MT, Gordon, WC, Hudson, SM (2001). The crime of threatening to kill. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 16, 312–319.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, GP, Dubin, WR, Lion, JR, Garry, LJ (1996). Threats against clinicians: a preliminary descriptive analysis. Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law 24, 367–376.Google Scholar
Calhoun, F (1998). Hunters and Howlers: Threats and Violence against Federal Judicial Officers in the United States, 1789–1993. U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Marshals Service: Arlington, VA.Google Scholar
Carstensen, PC (1994). The evolving duty of mental health professionals to third parties: a doctrinal and institutional examination. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 17, 1–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coverdale, J, Gale, C, Weeks, S, Turbott, S (2001). A survey of threats and violent acts by patients against training physicians. Medical Education 35, 154–159.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Davies, S (2001). Assaults and threats on psychiatrists. Psychiatric Bulletin 25, 89–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
deBecker, G (1997). The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us From Violence. Little Brown: Boston.Google Scholar
Dietz, PE, Matthews, DB, Martell, DA, Stewart, TM, Hrouda, DR, Warren, J (1991 a). Threatening and otherwise inappropriate letters to members of congress. Journal of Forensic Sciences 36, 1445–1468.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dietz, PE, Matthews, DB, Van Duyne, C, Martell, DA, Perry, CDH, Stewart, TM, Warren, J, Crowder, JD (1991 b). Threatening and otherwise inappropriate letters to Hollywood celebrities. Journal of Forensic Sciences 36, 185–209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dubin, WR, Lion, JR (1992). Clinician Safety: Report of the American Association Task Force on Clinician Safety. American Psychiatric Association: Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Flannery, DJ, Hanson, MA, Penk, W (1995). Patient's threats: an expanded definition of assault. General Hospital Psychiatry 17, 451–453.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Häkkänen, H (2006). Finnish bomb threats: offence and offender characteristics. International Journal of Police Science and Management 8, 1–8.Google Scholar
Harmon, RB, Rosner, R, Owens, H (1998). Sex and violence in a forensic population of obsessional harassers. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law 4, 236–249.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hosmer, DW, Lemeshow, S (2000). Applied Logistic Regression, 2nd edn, pp. 147–156. John Wiley & Sons: New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hough, M (1990). Threats: findings from the British Crime Survey. International Review of Victimology 1, 169–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kennedy, M, Jones, E (1995). Violence from patients in the community: will UK courts impose a duty of care on mental health professionals? Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health 5, 209–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kienlan, KK, Birmingham, DL, Solberg, KB, O'Regan, JT, Meloy, JR (1997). A comparative study of psychotic and non-psychotic stalking. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law 25, 317–334.Google Scholar
MacDonald, JM (1963). The threat to kill. American Journal of Psychiatry 120, 125–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacDonald, JM (1968). Homicidal Threats. C.C. Thomas: Springfield, IL.Google Scholar
McGuire, J (2003). Offender Rehabilitation and Treatment. Effective Programs and Policies to Reduce Re-offending. John Wiley & Sons: Chichester.Google Scholar
McKenna, BG, Poole, SJ, Smith, NA, Coverdale, JH, Gale, CK (2003). A survey of threats and violent behaviour by patients against registered nurses in their first year of practice. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing 2, 56–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meloy, JR (2000). Violence Risk and Threat Assessment: A Practical Guide for Mental Health and Criminal Justice Professionals. Specialized Training Services Inc.: San Diego, CA.Google Scholar
Monahan, J, Steadman, HJ, Silver, E, Appelbaum, PS, Robbins, PC, Mulvey, EP, Roth, LH, Grisso, T, Banks, S (2001). Rethinking Risk Assessment: The MacArthur Study of Mental Disorder and Violence. Oxford University Press: New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mossman, D (1994). Assessing predictions of violence: being accurate about accuracy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 62, 783–792.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mullen, PE (2006). Schizophrenia and violence: from correlations to preventive strategies. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment 12, 239–248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mullen, PE, Mackenzie, R, Ogloff, JRP, Pathé, M, McEwan, T, Purcell, R (2006). Assessing and managing the risks in the stalking situation. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law 34, 439–450.Google ScholarPubMed
Mullen, PE, Pathé, M, Purcell, R, Stuart, G (1999). Study of stalkers. American Journal of Psychiatry 156, 1244–1249.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Quinsey, VL, Jones, GB, Book, AS, Barr, KN (2006). The dynamic prediction of antisocial behavior among forensic psychiatric patients: a prospective field study. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 21, 1539–1565.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Southard, MJ, Gross, BH (1982). Making clinical decisions after Tarasoff. New Directions for Mental Health Services 16, 93–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steadman, H, Mulvey, E, Monahan, J, Clark-Robbins, P, Appelbaum, P, Grisso, T, Roth, L, Silver, E (1998). Violence by people discharged from acute psychiatric inpatient facilities and by others in the same neighbourhoods. Archives of General Psychiatry 55, 393–401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Kesteren, JN, Mayhew, P, Nieuwbeerta, P (2000). Criminal Victimisation in Seventeen Industrialised Countries: Key Findings from the 2000 International Crime Victims Survey. Ministry of Justice, WODC: The Hague.Google Scholar
Wallace, C, Mullen, PE, Burgess, P (2004). Criminal offending in schizophrenia over a 25-year period marked by deinstitutionalization and increasing prevalence of comorbid substance use disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry 161, 716–727.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wallace, C, Mullen, PE, Burgess, P, Palmer, S, Ruschena, D, Browne, C (1998). Serious criminal offending and mental disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry 172, 477–484.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Webster, CD, Douglas, KS, Eaves, D, Hart, SD (1997). HCR-20: Assessing Risk for Violence (Version 2). Mental Health, Law, and Policy Institute, Simon Fraser University: Burnaby, BC.Google Scholar