NCJ Number
57470
Date Published
1976
Length
26 pages
Annotation
THE DEVELOPMENT OF RESEARCH METHODOLOGY, TESTS USED, AND THE POPULATION STUDIED ARE DESCRIBED FOR TWO STUDIES, FOCUSING ON VIOLENT PERSONS AND ON BRAIN DYSFUNCTION.
Abstract
THE FIRST STUDY IDENTIFIED A GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS CONSIDERED BY THEMSELVES OR BY THEIR COMMUNITY AS VIOLENT PERSONS AND ASSUMED THAT THESE INDIVIDUALS WOULD SHOW MORE MEDICAL AND NEUROLOGICAL ABNORMALITIES THAN COMPARISON GROUPS. A SAMPLE OF 309 INDIVIDUALS SELECTED FOR STUDY WAS MATCHED FOR AGE, RACE, AND SEX. THE SAMPLE WAS THEN DIVIDED INTO 11 COMPARISON GROUPS INCLUDING SELF-REFERRED VIOLENT PERSONS, MALE AND FEMALE PRISONERS, MALE AND FEMALE PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL OUTPATIENTS, MALE AND FEMALE COLLEGE STUDENTS, NEUROLOGY PATIENTS, PAIN PATIENTS, TEMPORAL LOBE EPILEPTICS, AND NONTEMPORAL LOBE EPILEPTICS. A SERIES OF SCALES AND TESTS WERE DEVELOPED TO OBTAIN PERSONAL AND CLINICAL BACKGROUND, VIOLENT BEHAVIOR, SEXUAL AND PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS, AND SEIZURE BEHAVIOR INFORMATION ON THE SUBJECTS AND A SERIES OF PAPER AND PENCIL TESTS WERE FORMULATED TO GATHER SOME INDICES OF ORGANICITY. RESULTS WERE ANALYZED COMPARATIVELY USING 34 VARIABLES AND WERE STUDIED IN TERMS OF THE VARIABLES WHICH ARE CORRELATED WITH VIOLENCE OR DYSCONTROL. FINDINGS INDICATE THAT PERSONS SELF-REFERRED FOR VIOLENCE HAVE THE HIGHEST PAPER-AND-PENCIL TEST SCORES ON VIOLENCE AND THE HIGHEST SCORES ON THE TEST OF SCHIZOPHRENIA, EPILEPTIC PATIENTS HAVE THE HIGHEST SCORES ON THE MONROE DYSCONTROL SCALE (A POSSIBLE INDEX OF BRAIN DYSFUNCTION ASSOCIATED WITH EPILEPSY), AND VARIABLES CORRELATING WITH VIOLENCE SEEM TO INCLUDE A FAMILY HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, A HISTORY OF MANY LIFE ADJUSTMENT PROBLEMS, ACTING-OUT BEHAVIOR, AND SCHIZOID THINKING. OVERALL, THE METHODOLOGY APPEARS TO BE PROMISING FOR DESCRIBING BOTH THE INDIVIDUALS WHO SHOW REPEATED ACTS OF VIOLENCE AND THE NATURE OF VIOLENT BEHAVIOR. LIMITATIONS OF THE METHODOLOGY ARE DISCUSSED. REFERENCES AND STUDY DATA ARE PROVIDED. (DAG)