Objective: To explore the risk factors associated with committing crime in the inmates.
Methodology: Questionnaires were administered from 300 inmates (150 murderers & 150 thieves) of Nara Jail, Hyderabad, Sind, Pakistan and 160 controls (age and gender matched, eye individuals having no personal or crime related family history) from November 2014 to February 2015. Socio demographic profile, eating and addictive habits, stress level, lifestyle, diseases, height and weight were recorded. SAS statistical software was used to investigate the association of crime with dietary and environmental factors.
Results: Among total 300 inmates, murderers age ranged between 25-43 years (mean=33.46) and thieves age ranged between 23-35years (mean=29.1). A significant negative association was found with >2cups/day tea consumption (OR=0.452, 95% CI=0.047 3.818, p=0.04, whereas reverse was true for smoking the >10 cigarettes/day (OR=14.286, 95% CI=3.724 59.987, p=0.001) as well as for Hashish and alcohol abuse. Further, a significant negative association of >7hr/day sleep (OR=0.275, 95% CI=0.036 1.616, p=0.01) with crime was also found.
Conclusion: It may be concluded that more tea intake and excess sleep may lessen ones attitude/behavior towards criminality whereas cigarette smoking, hashish, alcohol abuse, stress and high blood pressure are positively associated with criminal behavior.
Key words: Criminality, inmates, behavior, tea, sleep, stress, smoking
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