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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: deirdre.macmanus@kcl.ac.uk
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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
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

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