NCJ Number
88515
Date Published
1982
Length
395 pages
Annotation
This epidemiological study examines the extent to which the mentally abnormal are responsible for major crimes of violence. The detailed analyses of offenders' age, motives, symptoms, and family, social, and occupational relations, as well as the duration of the illness and the quality of any aftercare should point out situations or symptoms of special danger, especially to close relatives, and suggest better prevention policies.
Abstract
The study is based on an analysis of 533 men and women detained as legally responsible for homicides or attempted homicides in West Germany between 1955-64. All subjects suffered from psychosis or serious degrees of subnormality. An important finding is that the mentally abnormal in general are less likely to commit violent crimes than the mentally normal. Thus, the general trend in psychiatry towards more open care of the mentally ill seems justified so far as the risk of violence is concerned. The manner in which the subjects' committed crimes reflects general tendencies found in violent crime as a whole (females differed from males in preferred methods), and alcohol did not play a major role in these crimes. Most victims belonged to the offenders' immediate families or had intimate relationships with them. A large proportion of the subjects had no motive for committing the crime; thus, unaccountable, impulsive behavior contributed to violence in the population. The report also discusses the age and sex distribution of the offenders, and their diagnosis and extent of treatment. Implications of these findings for prevention and treatment are discussed. Over 300 references, data sheets, name and subject indexes, notes, and some data tables are included.