Diabetes and Crime

Diabetes has been on the rise in discussions for multitude of reasons.  Some of those reasons are due to the poor diets, uneducated public, and even genetic issues.  But the most important reason is due to the increased number of diabetic cases that are being prevalent in the world and being able to figure out why the number of cases are on the rise.  However, the reasons that diabetes have increased has been explained through many different research and studies, but the long lasting effects on public safety is still in relative new footsteps and the effects that are to come from the increasing number of diabetic cases.

Diabetes is the misregulation of glucose in the bloodstream.  There are two different types of diabetes that are medically relevant to crime and increased levels of aggression.  Type 1 is typically a genetically based form of diabetes where the individual is not able to grow Beta cells or their cells are unable to recognize the insulin and glucagon concentrations.  However, on the other side type 2 diabetes is typically the one that is formed through bad health habits and poor physical activity.  Though the main causes of the two different types of diabetes are different the overall effects of the diabetes are very similar.  They are both have a higher chance at having higher levels of aggression thus putting a threat to public safety.

Public safety has been one of the main concerns of the criminal justice system of the United States ever since the first development of the criminal justice system.  The criminal justice system follows the constitution and provides freedoms given to every citizens in the United States.  The criminal justice system is always trying to figure out the causes of repeat offenders especially those of violent crimes and what we can do to help ensure the rights provided to us in the constitution.  Those rights that are provided by constitution are liberty, life, and the pursuit of happiness.  Research into repeat offenders has found that many of the repeat offender suffer from disorders that affect the ability of the individual to have self-control.  Violent crimes are taking away the right of the individual’s liberty and life by harming or even taking the individual’s life.  Thus, this becomes one of the most fundamental aspects of the criminal justice system.  The lack of self-control has been linked to increased levels of aggression in high risk situations leading to depriving individuals of their life and liberty of different crimes throughout the different actions of the individual.  

Aggression can also be overcome through the ability of the individual to control one’s anger.  Thus, aggression is not the overall cause of violent crime, but is one of the underlying causes of violent crimes in America or even throughout the entire world even with those that are career criminals.  So the studies that link aggression to crimes doesn’t account for all crimes, thus there still needs to have more research into crime to explain it.  However, being able to explain diabetes and aggression and the links they share can help us with a simple starting point on finding and eliminating a single cause to repeat violent offenders and self-control that is limited due to the increased aggression.  This link can help scientists with being able to determine if we should treat criminals as criminals or provide them the opportunity to get medical help for the different disorders or medical problems that trouble them.  Due to the fact that there are other disorders that cause people to commit crimes however they are treated just as bad as those who commit the crimes just because they want to commit the crimes for the fun of committing the crimes.

Aggression has been shown to heightened in those that suffer from the imbalances of glucose or the concentrations of insulin and glucagon.  In recent studies it has been shown that those who are unable to either absorb or produce insulin tend to have higher level of aggression (DeWall, 2010).  Many of these individuals suffered from hyperglycemia.  Hyperglycemia is the high concentration of glucose in the bloodstream and there is no way to regulate it by the human homeostasis.  The homeostasis of glucose in the human system is through the concentrations of insulin and glucagon in the bloodstream.  With insulin levels are high than glucose is absorbed by cells and is removed from the bloodstream.  However, when glucagon levels are high than glucose is no longer being removed from the bloodstream increasing the concentration of glucose in the blood.  Hyperglycemia is one of the precursors and symptoms of diabetes.  With the increasing level of aggression associated with diabetes is causes the individuals to overreact to some of the most simple situations causing assaults or even murder in some of the most extreme cases where death was not intended.  Thus explaining one of the many reasons that crime and the rate in which crime and the number of diabetes cases are increasing.

However, the example of above only explains simple and one time situations, but not necessary those in prison on multiple repeat violent charges especially in the prison system when they are able to get the medical care to help with the controlling the imbalances of glucose in the blood; as in insulin or other new medical treatments that are becoming readily available.  In a recent study they found that through people are able to get to treatment for diabetes they still had a high chance to not be able to process the glucose and have a higher rate to have violent outburst to the fellow inmates and correctional officers thus repeating many of their violent acts while they are in custody (Virkkunen, 1986).  So this shows that through individuals are getting insulin, the insulin that is provided through the shots are not as effective as insulin that is produced by human Beta cells.  This is due to the fact that the human liver is unable to process the insulin to the same level as the insulin that is produced by the Beta cells; thus not giving the individual the same benefits of human made insulin.

Not only has scientist look at how diabetes affect the crime rates, but if crime has affected the number of diabetes cases. In the study by Rich-Edwards they found that women victims of crimes, there was no correlation between male victims and crime, had a higher chance of developing diabetes later in life through multiple reasons caused by different effects of the crime.  Rich-Edwards hypothesizes that there are many reasons that victims many develop diabetes which are low self-esteem, poor health care, or even bad mental health (Rich-Edwards, 2010).  With the risk factors of diabetes and the trauma of the crimes allow leads to the development of multiple new cases of diabetes each year which leads to the overall increasing number.

With the connection to low self-esteem it brings into question if diabetes is a mental disorder more that a physical disease.  According to Rich-Edwards those who tend to have low self-esteem, they develop diabetes due to the fact that they don’t care about themselves and in return have poor diets (Rich-Edwards, 2010).  These poor diets thus lead to the overeating and obesity that can result in the development of type 2 diabetes.  So self-esteem is linked to the mental disorder, but according to Ackard overeating is also a mental disorder.  Overeating is the ability to not being able to feel full even when you eat and you continue to eat.  Overeating has been linked to obesity and obesity has been linked to diabetes (Ackard, 2003).  Thus with having two mental disorders at the same time heightens the effects of the two disorders.  With these two mental disorders being together brings into question the idea that diabetes is a mental disorder followed by the physical symptoms of not being able to control glucose levels in the blood.

With these two mental disorders possibly create a third mental disorder.  The third mental disorder is defined as Diabetic Rage.  Diabetic Rage is similar to the effects of those who go into denial when they lose a loved one.  These individuals typically are angry at the situation that is placed in front of them.  Because of this anger they will do the complete opposite of what the doctors and physicians want them to do to help them to remain healthy for as long as possible.  For example, they will not take their insulin, not follow dietary plans, or even work out.  Thus causing their symptoms and disease to get worse eventually leading to the death of the individual (Garay-Sevilla,1999).

Even though when you first hear the terms diabetes and crime it is hard to find  connection however there are endless number of connections to be found.  There has been research to show that diabetes can cause individuals to overreact to situations causing them to commit violent crimes.  Or even have them to repeat the same crimes over and over again even after the have received treatment for diabetes; over in fact regulating the glucose concentration in their blood.  Finally, diabetes doesn’t have to cause an individual to commit the crime, but could be the long term result of being a victim of a crime due to the side effects of the crime.  Raising the ultimate question of is diabetes a disease or that of a mental disorder.  Crime and diabetes relate to each other in more ways than one.  Research still needs to be to show the other connections that diabetes and crime have with one another and the way that each affect one another in the long term.  Thus finding these connections can help us with being able to find new ways to end violent crimes or even how to treat and prevent diabetes.  One possible way to be able to treat diabetes is getting those with low self-esteem issues and overeating disorders the proper psychological help which then can help with limiting diabetes and crime cases.

Ackard, D. M., Neumark-Sztainer, D., Story, M., & Perry, C. (2003). Overeating Among Adolescents: Prevalence and Associations With Weight-Related Characteristics and Psychological Health. Pediatrics, 111(1), 67.

Dewall, C. N., Deckman, T., Gailliot, M. T., & Bushman, B. J. (2010). Sweetened blood cools hot tempers: Physiological self-control and aggression. Aggr. Behav. Aggressive Behavior, 37(1), 73-80. doi:10.1002/ab.20366

Garay-Sevilla, M. E., Malacara, J. M., Gutiérrez-Roa, A., & González, E. (1999). Denial of disease in Type 2 diabetes mellitus: its influence on metabolic control and associated factors. Diabetic Medicine, 16(3), 238-244. doi:10.1046/j.1464-5491.1999.00033.x

Rich-Edwards, Janet W., Donna Spiegelman, Eileen N. Lividoti Hibert, Hee-Jin Jun, Tamarra James Todd, Ichiro Kawachi, and Rosalind J. Wright. "Abuse in Childhood and Adolescence As a Predictor of Type 2 Diabetes in Adult Women."American Journal of Preventive Medicine 39.6 (2010): 529-36. Web.

Virkkunen, Matti. "Insulin Secretion during the Glucose Tolerance Test among Habitually Violent and Impulsive Offenders." Aggr. Behav. Aggressive Behavior 12.4 (1986): 303-10. Web.