Jamaica has one of the highest murder rates per capita in the world, as well as a high rate of other crimes. With this study, I examined how factors such as income, socialecological factors of poverty (S-E factors of poverty), and symptoms of conduct disorder (CD) were related to criminality in a sample of 79 male Jamaican parolees and probationers. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 74 years old and were all of African descent. I interviewed participants using the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WHO-CIDI), a survey to assess S-E factors associated with poverty, and the Historical/Clinical/Risk Management (HCR-20). My results indicate that my measure of respondents’ income was not associated with propensity for crime. However, severity of CD and an increased number of S-E factors of poverty were positively associated with propensity for crime in adulthood. Results also indicate that S-E factors of poverty mediate the relationship between severity of CD and propensity for crime. These findings provide evidence that psychologists should pay attention to S-E factors when diagnosing and treating CD. They also suggest that Jamaican officials working to reduce the level of crime in Jamaica may make greater strides by focusing their efforts on developing policies to eliminate social and environmental risk factors.
","abstract_html":"<p>Jamaica has one of the highest murder rates per capita in the world, as well as a high rate of other crimes. With this study, I examined how factors such as income, socialecological factors of poverty (S-E factors of poverty), and symptoms of conduct disorder (CD) were related to criminality in a sample of 79 male Jamaican parolees and probationers. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 74 years old and were all of African descent. I interviewed participants using the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WHO-CIDI), a survey to assess S-E factors associated with poverty, and the Historical/Clinical/Risk Management (HCR-20). My results indicate that my measure of respondents’ income was not associated with propensity for crime. However, severity of CD and an increased number of S-E factors of poverty were positively associated with propensity for crime in adulthood. Results also indicate that S-E factors of poverty mediate the relationship between severity of CD and propensity for crime. These findings provide evidence that psychologists should pay attention to S-E factors when diagnosing and treating CD. They also suggest that Jamaican officials working to reduce the level of crime in Jamaica may make greater strides by focusing their efforts on developing policies to eliminate social and environmental risk factors.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Saunders-Scott, David"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Open Access Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Stephen Jefferson, Ph.D.","Norman Gordon, Ph.D.","Thomas Schmitt, Ph.D."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2010,"date_issued":"2010-06-15T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2010-06-15T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:36Z","subjects":["Conduct Disorder","Poverty","Crime and Violence","Clinical Psychology","Criminology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/292","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Stephen Jefferson, Ph.D.","Norman Gordon, Ph.D.","Thomas Schmitt, Ph.D."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Saunders-Scott, David"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2010-11-19T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Conduct Disorder","Poverty","Crime and Violence","Clinical Psychology","Criminology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/292"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Jamaica has one of the highest murder rates per capita in the world, as well as a high rate of other crimes. With this study, I examined how factors such as income, socialecological factors of poverty (S-E factors of poverty), and symptoms of conduct disorder (CD) were related to criminality in a sample of 79 male Jamaican parolees and probationers. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 74 years old and were all of African descent. I interviewed participants using the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WHO-CIDI), a survey to assess S-E factors associated with poverty, and the Historical/Clinical/Risk Management (HCR-20). My results indicate that my measure of respondents’ income was not associated with propensity for crime. However, severity of CD and an increased number of S-E factors of poverty were positively associated with propensity for crime in adulthood. Results also indicate that S-E factors of poverty mediate the relationship between severity of CD and propensity for crime. These findings provide evidence that psychologists should pay attention to S-E factors when diagnosing and treating CD. They also suggest that Jamaican officials working to reduce the level of crime in Jamaica may make greater strides by focusing their efforts on developing policies to eliminate social and environmental risk factors.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The influence of poverty on the development and maintenance of conduct disorder and perpetuation of crime and violence"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Stephen Jefferson, Ph.D.","Norman Gordon, Ph.D.","Thomas Schmitt, Ph.D."],"dc:creator":["Saunders-Scott, David"],"dc:date.available":["2010-11-19T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Jamaica has one of the highest murder rates per capita in the world, as well as a high rate of other crimes. With this study, I examined how factors such as income, socialecological factors of poverty (S-E factors of poverty), and symptoms of conduct disorder (CD) were related to criminality in a sample of 79 male Jamaican parolees and probationers. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 74 years old and were all of African descent. I interviewed participants using the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WHO-CIDI), a survey to assess S-E factors associated with poverty, and the Historical/Clinical/Risk Management (HCR-20). My results indicate that my measure of respondents’ income was not associated with propensity for crime. However, severity of CD and an increased number of S-E factors of poverty were positively associated with propensity for crime in adulthood. Results also indicate that S-E factors of poverty mediate the relationship between severity of CD and propensity for crime. These findings provide evidence that psychologists should pay attention to S-E factors when diagnosing and treating CD. They also suggest that Jamaican officials working to reduce the level of crime in Jamaica may make greater strides by focusing their efforts on developing policies to eliminate social and environmental risk factors.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/292"],"dc:subject":["Conduct Disorder","Poverty","Crime and Violence","Clinical Psychology","Criminology"],"dc:title":["The influence of poverty on the development and maintenance of conduct disorder and perpetuation of crime and violence"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:36Z"}