Journal of Threat Assessment and Management, Vol 10(1), Mar 2023, 32-41; doi:10.1037/tam0000195
Several studies reviewing the criminal histories of those who are investigated for threatening behaviors have been published, but many who are investigated for making threats are not convicted under a threat-related statute. The present study reviews the criminal histories of over 800 federal offenders convicted under threat-related statutes. Using publicly available data from the United States Sentencing Commission, we describe the criminal histories of these offenders. We then assess whether criminal histories can be used to distinguish those who showed evidence of intent to carry out their threats from the offenders who do not display such concerning behaviors. Findings show that the criminal histories of offenders who had evidence of intent to carry out their threat were similar to other threat offenders. Additionally, there were no significant differences between offenders who made multiple threats and those cases that included evidence of intent to carry out a threat. The similarities in criminal history between those offenders with evidence of intent to carry out their threat and other federal threat offenders highlight the difficulty and ambiguity assessors encounter when completing a threat assessment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)