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Post-homicide Psychotic Reaction

NCJ Number
78373
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 25 Issue: 1 Dated: (1981) Pages: 47-52
Author(s)
J Arboleda-Florez
Date Published
1981
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Post-Homicide psychotic reactions are usually seen in detainees just recently remanded pending investigation of murder and differ from the Ganser Syndrome seen in prisoners serving time in confinement.
Abstract
Ganser Syndrome is usually observed among prisoners who are experiencing an hysterical twilight state with hallucinations. The crime is usually forgotten, and the patient is usually expressing a denial of the realities of imprisonment, hearing or seeing themes or scenes of liberty. Post-Homicide psychotic reaction, on the contrary, reveals hallucinating experiences of reliving the crime or of mixtures of scenes of the crime and scenes denying the crime. These reactions are true psychogenic psychoses due to a trauma adequate and severe enough to cause a breakdown; their meaning to the mental apparatus is understandable, and their contents are clearly related to the precipitating trauma. The scene of the crime is usually reenacted in horrifying details. The meaningfulness of this reaction appears to be an attempt via repetition-compulsion to reexperience the events and digest the trauma, allowing for final acceptance of the crime. Feelings of guilt and despair and of clinical depression usually follow the resolution of the authorship conflict (accepting authorship of the crime). When this happens suicide risks increase. Legally, such reactions do not affect criminal responsibility issues but might affect the ability to try these cases. Several cases and nine references are cited.

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