NCJ Number
176109
Editor(s)
L B Schlesinger
Date Published
1996
Length
364 pages
Annotation
Chapters discuss rare, unusual, or novel psychological disorders whose potential forensic implications are less studied than more common and forensically relevant disorders.
Abstract
In Section I, the five topics selected represent various disorders of thought that lead to criminal conduct. These include the "obsessional follower," who engages in a long-term pattern of threats and harassment toward another person; misidentification syndromes (a delusional belief that the self or another individual is no longer the same person, often thought to have been replaced by an imposter); factitious disorder (illnesses that are not real and may be motivated by a desire to assume the patient role); morbid jealousy and criminal conduct; and pseudologia fantastica and pathological lying. Forensic implications are discussed for each of these disorders. Section II contains five chapters on various clinical syndromes with distinct behavioral manifestations, all of which have significant forensic implications. These include the catathymic process, a disorder characterized by an extreme violent reaction when an underlying emotionally charged conflict erupts and overwhelms psychic integration. Other chapters in this section explore pathological intoxication, an idiosyncratic reaction to small amounts of alcohol, often manifested by extreme violence; pathological gambling and its relationship to criminal behavior; organic brain dysfunctions and criminality; and sadistic criminal aggression from the perspectives of psychology, criminology, and neuroscience. Section III contains five chapters that highlight various types of psychopathology often considered to be within the borderline or psychotic spectrum. These are schizophrenia and antisocial personality disorder, prison psychosis and rare dissociative states, multiple personality disorder and crime, post-traumatic stress disorder, and malingering and deception. Forensic implications are discussed for each of these disorders. Chapter references and a subject index