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Schizophrenia and Delinquency - Medico-social Investigation of 116 Psychotic Patients, 63 of Them Delinquents Hospitalized in Specialized Centers

NCJ Number
70457
Journal
ANNALES MEDICO-PSYCHOLOGIQUES Volume: 135 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1977) Pages: 1-33
Author(s)
M Addad; M Benezech
Date Published
1977
Length
33 pages
Annotation
Results of a study comparing 53 nondelinquent and 63 delinquent schizophrenics in five French psychiatric wards are presented.
Abstract
Study data derive from records of subjects, of personal interviews with subjects, and from an extensive questionnaire relating to subjects' education, social life, family, and delinquent behavior. Results indicate that delinquents and nondelinquents resemble one another in the factors leading to schizophrenia but that they differ in certain aspects of their familial situations. Delinquents frequently suffer from maternal rejection, which may take the form of exclusion from the family home or of psychological abuse. A small number of schizophrenics learn deviant behavior by imitation of the antisocial values in their immediate environment. Hebephrenic subjects only rarely become involved in criminal activities, and delinquency occurs in heboidophrenics only at the same rate as in the general population. Paranoiacs tend to be the most dangerous: 46.15 percent of the paranoid subjects in the sample committed violent physical acts and 33.5 percent committed murder. Most frequent victms are family members. The frequency of premeditation (50 percent) does not vary according to disease form. More than half of the schizophrenics have a history of medicolegal problems or are recidivists, suggesting that diagnosis of a dangerous state of mind should be possible prior to the crime. The authors emphasize that the data are only valid for institutionalized schizophrenics. A sample of the questionnaire, tables, and a 10-item bibliography are supplied. --in French.