{"id":30167,"date":"2013-03-15T07:15:08","date_gmt":"2013-03-15T06:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/uk.news.yahoo.com\/soldiers-more-likely-commit-violent-crime-001906147.html"},"modified":"2013-03-15T07:15:08","modified_gmt":"2013-03-15T06:15:08","slug":"soldiers-more-likely-to-commit-violent-crime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/breaking-news\/soldiers-more-likely-to-commit-violent-crime\/","title":{"rendered":"Soldiers More Likely To Commit Violent Crime"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Young British servicemen – past and present – are three times more likely to commit violent crime than their civilian counterparts.<\/p>\n

Using official criminal records, researchers have found that violent offending is particularly common among men under 30-years-old from the lower ranks of the Army.<\/p>\n

Of nearly 3,000 men under 30 who have served in the armed forces, nearly 20.6% have a conviction for violence, according to the study published in The Lancet today.<\/p>\n

That compares to 6.7% of the same age group in the civilian world.<\/p>\n

The report also shows that men who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan are 53% more likely to commit a violent offence than their colleagues in non-combat roles.<\/p>\n

“We are suggesting there is a problem that needs to be looked at, but just as with post-traumatic stress disorder this is not a common outcome in military populations.<\/p>\n

“Overall, you must remember that of those who serve in combat, 94% of those who come back will not offend,” said report co-author Sir Simon Wessely from King’s College, London.<\/p>\n

According to the figures, those with multiple experiences of combat have a 70% to 80% greater risk of committing acts of violence.<\/p>\n

The report acknowledges that those who choose to become a soldier are likely to have a more aggressive disposition than the average person.<\/p>\n

Pre-military history of violence, younger age, and lower rank appear to be the strongest risk factors for violent offending.<\/p>\n

But alcohol misuse and post-traumatic stress disorder on return from deployment were also found to be strong predictors of violence.<\/p>\n

Former Royal Engineer Lewis Mackay returned from Afghanistan in 2010 – he saw his commander lose both legs on the battlefield after stepping on an Improvised Explosive Device (IED).<\/p>\n

He said: “When I came back I got very angry and felt very angry towards my wife.<\/p>\n

“In my head she didn’t exist whatsoever. If she did something that I didn’t think was right I’d feel the urge to lash out and it got to the point where I had to physically sit on my hands to stop myself doing that.”<\/p>\n

Mr Mackay has now received the help he needed but former SAS serviceman Bob Craft says it’s never easy to ask for help.<\/p>\n

“The older you are, the better you deal with it. I asked for help and I found help.<\/p>\n

“But younger lads who come out refuse to ask for help because it’s seen as a weakness, therefore they bottle it up and then they make mistakes,” he said.<\/p>\n

The study is the biggest of its kind and is released just days before the 10th anniversary of the start of the Iraq War.<\/p>\n

In a statement the Ministry of Defence said: “We are committed to supporting members of our Armed Forces and their families as they return to civilian life post deployment.<\/p>\n

“That is why we funded this research and have comprehensive mental health support available before, during and after operations. We also ensure that all personnel go through a thorough period of decompression to help make this adjustment.<\/p>\n

“Any violent offence is unacceptable and will not be tolerated by our Armed Forces. If a member of our Armed Forces or their family experiences violence there is a wide range of support and help available to them.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Young British servicemen – past and present – are three times more likely to commit violent crime than their civilian counterparts.
\nUsing official criminal records, researchers have found that violent offending is particularly common among men under 3…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1213,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[487],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-30167","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-breaking-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1213"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30167\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}