NCJ Number
35111
Date Published
1976
Length
190 pages
Annotation
THIS BOOK REVIEWS THE FINDINGS OF A FIFTEEN-YEAR PSYCHIATRIC STUDY AND FOLLOW-UP OF 233 MALE FELONS (PAROLEES AND FLAT-TIMERS) AND 66 FEMALE FELONS (ALL PAROLEES) IN MISSOURI.
Abstract
THIS STUDY, BEGUN IN 1959, INVOLVED PSYCHIATRICALLY UNBIASED SELECTION OF BOTH MALE AND FEMALE CRIMINALS, USE OF A STANDARDIZED RESEARCH INTERVIEW; APPLICATION OF EXPLICIT DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA BASED UPON INDEPENDENT FOLLOW-UP AND FAMILY STUDIES, REPEATED FOLLOW-UP BASED ON MULTIPLE RECORDS AND PERSONAL INTERVIEWS, AND SYSTEMATIC STUDY OF FIRST-DEGREE RELATIVES AND SPOUSES. STUDY RESULTS INDICATED THAT SOCIOPATHY, ALCOHOLISM, AND DRUG DEPENDENCE WERE THE PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS ASSOCIATED WITH MAJOR CRIME. SCHIZOPHRENIA, PRIMARY AFFECTIVE DISORDERS, ANXIETY NEUROSIS, OBSESSIONAL NEUROSIS, PHOBIC NEUROSIS, BRAIN SYNDROMES, AND SEXUAL DEVIANCE WITHOUT SOCIOPATHY, ALCOHOLISM, OR DRUG DEPENDENCE WERE FOUND NOT TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH FELONY. IN ADDITION, A NOTABLE REDUCTION IN RECIDIVISM WAS FOUND WITH INCREASING AGE - FROM APPROXIMATELY AGE 40. THE AUTHOR AND ORIGINAL RESEARCHER OFFERS A TENTATIVE STATEMENT ABOUT SOCIOPATHY: THAT IT IS A HETEROGENEOUS CONDITION, SEEN MUCH MORE OFTEN IN VERY DISTURBED FAMILIES AND UNDER ADVERSE SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITIONS. HEREDITARY PREDISPOSITION AND ABNORMAL BRAIN FUNCTION MAY CHARACTERIZE SOME CASES. ONE OF THE UNEXPECTED RESULTS OF THESE STUDIES WAS THE EVIDENCE FOR A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIOPATHY AND HYSTERIA, THE FORMER PREDOMINANTLY A DISORDER OF MEN, AND THE LATTER, OF WOMEN. THIS FINDING WOULD SUGGEST THAT THE SEX DIFFERENCES IN THE TWO DISORDERS ARE RESTRICTED TO OVERT MANIFESTATIONS, AND THAT ETIOLOGIC AND PATHOGENETIC PROCESSES ARE SIMILAR. A 104-ITEM LIST OF REFERENCES IS INCLUDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)