NCJ Number
109625
Journal
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Volume: 26 Issue: 5 Dated: (September 1987) Pages: 744-752
Date Published
1987
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This study compared the neuropsychiatric and family characteristics of matched samples of delinquents and nondelinquents.
Abstract
The 31 subjects in the delinquent group (19 boys and 12 girls) were incarcerated at a Connecticut correctional facility during an 18-month period in the late 1970's. A matched comparison group of nondelinquents (19 boys and 12 girls) attended a New York City inner city recreational program between 1979 and 1981. The ages for all subjects ranged between 12 and 17 years. In each group there were 15 whites, 10 blacks, and 6 Hispanics. The psychiatric evaluation consisted of a lengthy semistructured interview that encompassed medical history, history of neuropsychiatric symptoms, qualities of temper, and history of physical abuse and family violence. The constellation of abuse/family violence, severe psychiatric symptomatology, cognitive impairment, minor neurological signs, and psychomotor symptoms correctly predicted group membership nearly 84 percent of the time. The most significant variable was abuse/family violence. This constellation also distinguished the more aggressive from the less aggressive subjects in each group. The study suggests a syndrome composed of the identified variables as characteristic of recurrently violent persons. 5 tables and 59 references. (Author abstract modified)