Mortality Among Offenders Convicted of Threatening Violence: A Population-Based Study

• Published in: Journal of threat assessment and management 2024-06, Vol.11 (2), p.121-132
• Main Authors: Sturidsson, Knut, Warren, Lisa, Runeson, Bo, Melin, Bo, Sorjonen, Kimmo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adjustment; Criminal Offenders; Death and Dying; Female; Homicide; Human; Male; Mortality Risk; Suicide; Threat; Violence
• ISSN: 2169-4842; 2169-4850
• DOI: 10.1037/tam0000208

Threatening is a complex behavior that communicates intended violence, creating fear for personal safety, bodily injury, or death. There are sparse data on the mortality of individuals uttering threats to harm or kill others, even though the few studies examining the outcomes of threatening have found threateners are more likely to kill themselves than anybody else. The present study is a total population study consisting of all individuals (n = 97,796) in Sweden having convictions of a threat offence between 1973 and 2015. The study population was compared to that of matched controls from (a) the general population and (b) individuals with other (than threats) criminal convictions. Threateners experienced a significantly higher hazard (hazard ratio [HR] = 3.18) for all-cause mortality than controls from the general population and, to a lesser degree (HR = 1.61), than criminal controls. The HR was especially large for murder (18.37 and 1.93, respectively) but also larger for suicide (5.28 and 1.88, respectively). The HR attenuated when adjusting for psychiatric care and, to a lesser extent, when adjusting for level of education. Threateners were found to have a significantly greater mortality risk than demographically similar people in the general population and the broader offender population. The hazards of dying by homicide or suicide were especially high, indicating the mortality risk that follows threatening to harm others is elevated. Public Significance Statement This study examined a population-based cohort of individuals in Sweden who have been convicted of a threat offense, and it shows that individuals convicted of threats were found to have a significantly greater mortality risk than demographically similar people in the general population and the broader offender population. The hazards of dying by homicide or suicide were especially high. These findings highlight the need to develop risk assessment technologies that concurrently assess the risks of violence to the person and by the person.