A Study of Risk Factors in Recidivistic Criminals

A study was carried out under the aegis of Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi with objectives to identify psychosocial, physical, psychiatric, anthropometric and psychometric risk factors in recidivistic criminals, which could predict a future recidivistic criminal. The paper presents study observations on 250 experimental, 250 control-1 and 250 control-2 subjects. Experimental and control-1 subjects were recruited from district jails of Uttar Pradesh and control-2 from the community. Pretested Semi-structured proformae, Verghese and Beig Symptoms Checklist, International Personality Disorder Examination module, Hostility and Direction of Hostility Questionnaire, Rorschach Ink Blot Test and Standard Anthropometric instruments were used to collect data on study probands. All the three groups were compared using Analysis of Variance and Chi-Square Test. The results highlight a number of psycho-social, psychiatric, psychometric and anthropometric factors which were found to have significant association with recidivistic criminal behaviour. The findings would not only help in identifying future recidivistic criminals but can also be used for legal, judicial, interventional and corrective purposes.