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Service members more likely to commit violent crimes

The proportion of military service members from the United Kingdom aged 30 years or younger with a conviction for violent offenses was much higher than among men of similar age in the general population, according to new study results published in The Lancet.

“Our results suggest that the recognition and appropriate treatment of post-deployment mental health problems and alcohol misuse is important in managing the risk of violence among those returning from deployment, especially those who have been deployed in a combat role,” study researcher Deirdre MacManus, MRCPsych, of King’s College London, told Psychiatric Annals.

 

Deirdre MacManus

MacManus and colleagues linked data from 13,856 active and retired service members with national criminal records from the UK’s Ministry of Justice Police National Computer database.

Of all of the military personnel included in the study, 17% had a criminal record for any offense, of whom violent offenders (64%) were the most common. The prevalence of violent offenders was highest among men aged 30 years or younger (20.6%), far exceeding violent offenses among men of similar age in the general population (6.7%). The prevalence of violent offenses declined with age (4.7% at aged at least 45 years).

Deployment itself was not independently associated with violent offending, according to the researchers, but combat was (HR=1.53; 95% CI, 1.15-2.03). Exposure to traumatic incidents during deployment also increased the risk for violent offending. For example, the HR for men exposed to two to four traumatic incidents vs. men who were exposed to one or no traumatic incidents was 1.77 (95% CI, 1.21-2.58), and the HR for men exposed to five to 16 incidents was 1.65 (95% CI, 1.12-2.40).

After age and sex, the strongest predictors of violent offending were rank and history of violence before joining the service.

Alcohol misuse also was strongly associated with violent behavior (HR=2.16; 95% CI, 1.62-2.9), as was posttraumatic stress disorder (HR=2.20; 95% CI, 1.36-3.55).

MacManus and colleagues said there is no simple approach to reducing violent behavior among active and retired service members. Although PTSD was less prevalent than alcohol misuse in this population, the disorder should remain a target of future interventions.

“These results reinforce the potential benefit of targeting posttraumatic stress disorder hyperarousal symptoms for risk reduction of violent offending,” the researchers wrote.

Disclosure: See the study for the full list of financial disclosures.