This study examined the prevalence and predictors of male inmates’ mental health problems. Data were used from the Prison Project, a longitudinal study in which 824 prisoners were surveyed twice (three weeks and three months after arrival in prison). Compared with the general population, inmates reported significantly more psychological problems. Except for depressive symptoms, inmates’ mental health problems decreased over time. After controlling for prior mental health problems and a number of import factors, we found that those who shared a cell in the first weeks of their imprisonment and held more positive judgments regarding daytime activities and the relationships with staff, reported fewer psychological problems after three months. Those who were verbally abused by prison staff during their first weeks in prison reported more psychological problems after three months.

Some serious events end lethally while others do not. This study examined to what extent a selected number of event characteristics and actors’ behaviour contributed to the escalation of an event into a lethal outcome. We examined Dutch court files of 267 serious events in which offenders were convicted for either lethal violence (homicide, N=126) or non-lethal violence (attempted homicide, N=141). Pronounced differences were found between lethal versus non-lethal events with respect to event characteristics and to actors’ behaviour during the incident in particular. In particular, the likelihood of a lethal outcome increased in events involving alcohol use by victims, firearm use by offenders, victim precipitation and the absence of third parties.

This study addresses next to the question to what extent offenders become victims themselves also and for the first time in the Netherlands the degree in which victims become suspects of criminal investigations themselves. Furthermore, this study also examines whether this reciprocal relationship is in fact spurious, caused by socio-demographic characteristics of individuals. Annual victimization survey data combined with longitudinal police data show a positive reciprocal relationship, even after controlling for socio-demographic characteristics of individuals. Subgroups that score relatively low on offending and victimization show a stronger reciprocal relationship, while for subgroups with relatively high scores, the relationship is less strong or even negative.