NCJ Number
54841
Date Published
1975
Length
9 pages
Annotation
USING A SAMPLE OF ADOPTEES BORN TO FEMALE OFFENDERS AND ADOPTEES BORN TO NONCRIMINAL MOTHERS, THIS STUDY EXAMINES A POSSIBLE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GENETIC MAKEUP AND ADULT PSYCHOPATHIC BEHAVIOR.
Abstract
THE ANALYSIS IS BASED ON AN ASSUMPTION FROM PREVIOUS STUDIES THAT A GREATER THAN AVERAGE NUMBER OF PSYCHOPATHS WILL OCCUR IN CRIMINAL POPULATIONS. USING CORRECTIONAL AND STATE INDEX RECORDS, RESEARCHERS IDENTIFIED 52 PERSONS (PROBANDS) WHO HAD BEEN BORN TO FEMALE OFFENDERS AND ADOPTED AT A MEAN AGE OF 3.9 MONTHS AND A SIMILAR GROUP OF ADOPTED CONTROLS. DATA ON THE TWO GROUPS WERE COLLECTED FROM OFFICIAL RECORDS, HOSPITAL RECORDS, SOCIAL HISTORIES FROM VARIOUS INSTITUTIONS, AND FROM INTERVIEWS. RESULTS INDICATE THAT SEVEN PROBANDS HAD ADULT CONVICTION RECORDS AND THREE HAD JUVENILE INCARCERATION RECORDS AS COMPARED TO TWO CONTROLS WITH CONVICTION RECORDS AND NONE WITH INCARCERATION RECORDS. PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL RECORDS SHOW THAT EIGHT PROBANDS WERE SENT TO THE STATE MENTAL HOSPITAL AT SOME POINT IN THEIR LIFE AND SEVEN HAVE BEEN HOSPITALIZED, USUALLY FOR ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR. ONLY TWO CONTROLS WERE SENT TO OR HOSPITALIZED IN THAT STATE INSTITUTION. USING COMBINED HOSPITAL RECORDS AND ARREST RECORDS TO ESTABLISH EVIDENCE OF PSYCHOPATHY, RESEARCHERS DETERMINED THAT 11 PROBANDS SUFFERED FROM SOME FORM OF PSYCHOPATHY COMPARED TO FOUR CONTROLS. ALTHOUGH FINAL RESULTS OF THE STUDY ARE NOT AVAILABLE, THESE FINDINGS DO INDICATE A HIGHER OCCURRENCE OF ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR AMONG THE PROBANDS THAN AMONG THE CONTROLS. MOTHERS OF THE 6 PROBANDS DIAGNOSED AS ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITIES HAD BEEN SENTENCED FOR ASSAULT WITH INTENT TO INJURE, DESERTION, CONTRIBUTING TO THE DELINQUENCY OF A MINOR, PROSTITUTION, AND LARCENY. REFERENCES AND TABULAR DATA ARE PROVIDED. (DAG)