NCJ Number
56739
Journal
ACTA PAEDOPSYCHIATRICA Volume: 33 Issue: 8 Dated: (AUGUST 1966) Pages: 251-258
Date Published
1966
Length
8 pages
Annotation
ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAM (EEG) READINGS, OBSERVATIONAL DATA, AND RORSCHACH (INK BLOT) TEST PERFORMANCE ARE EXAMINED IN A STUDY OF 19 MALE JUVENILE DELINQUENTS SUSPECTED OF HAVING ORGANIC BRAIN DISORDERS.
Abstract
THE YOUTHS HAD BEEN REFERRED TO AN OBSERVATION CENTER FOR DELINQUENTS IN JERUSALEM, ISRAEL, AFTER REPEATED INVOLVEMENT IN DELINQUENT ACTIVITIES. SIX OF THE SUBJECTS HAD EEG ABNORMALITIES OF THE CONVULSIVE TYPE, WITH THE DISTURBANCE LOCATED IN THE LEFT TEMPORAL LOBE OF THE BRAIN; FOUR SHOWED A MATURATIONAL LAG OF BRAIN DEVELOPMENT; AND NINE HAD NORMAL EEG'S. THE INCIDENCE OF ABNORMAL EEG'S WAS HIGHER AMONG THIS GROUP OF DELINQUENTS THAN IN THE GENERAL POPULATION. WITHIN THE ABNORMAL EEG'S, THE INCIDENCE OF CONVULSIVE ABNORMALITIES WAS RELATIVELY HIGH. A CORRELATION WAS FOUND BETWEEN CONVULSIVE ABNORMALITIES AND CERTAN ASPECTS OF RORSCHACH TEST PERFORMANCE. THERE WAS A HIGHER INCIDENCE OF DAY DREAMING IN THE YOUTHS WITH CONVULSIVE EEG READINGS. MOTHERS OF THESE YOUTHS WERE SIGNIFICANTLY OLDER AT THE TIME THE YOUTHS WERE BORN THAN WERE THE MOTHERS OF SUBJECTS WITH NORMAL EEG'S. THE CONVULSIVE TYPE OF EEG ABNORMALITY FOUND IN SIX OF THE SUBJECTS IS INDICATIVE OF BRAIN PATHOLOGY ASSOCIATED WITH OUTBURSTS OF RAGE AND AGGRESSION AND WITH DYSFUNCTIONS OF LANGUAGE, MEMORY, AND LEARNING. COMBINED WITH RORSCHACH TESTS AND FREE OBSERVATION, EEG DIAGNOSIS APPEARS TO BE A USEFUL TOOL IN EVALUATING JUVENILES WITH PAROXYSMAL DISTURBANCES (EMOTIONAL OUTBURSTS). SUMMARIES IN FRENCH, GERMAN, AND SPANISH. (LKM)