EPILEPSY - RELATION TO AGGRESSION, VIOLENCE, RAGE AND CRIMINALITY

• NCJ Number: 57049
• Journal: MEDICAL TRIAL TECHNIQUE QUARTERLY Volume: 21 Issue: 1 Dated: (SUMMER 1974) Pages: 15-26
• Author(s): A J ARIEFF
• Date Published: 1974
• Length: 12 pages
• Corporate Author: Callaghan and Co
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

THE RESEARCH LITERATURE PERTAINING TO THE RELATIONSHIP OF EPILEPSY TO BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS IS REVIEWED.

Abstract

EPILEPSY HAS BEEN CITED AS THE CAUSE OF MANY CONDITIONS--MENTAL ILLNESS, PERSONALITY DISTURBANCE, VIOLENCE, RAPE, CRIMINALITY. ACTUALLY EPILEPTIC SEIZURES MAY HAVE LITTLE TO DO WITH THESE DISORDERS, EXCEPT PERHAPS AS ANOTHER SYMPTOM OF AN UNDERLYING DISORDER. ALTHOUGH IT CANNOT BE CONCLUDED FROM AVAILABLE EVIDENCE THAT EPILEPSY IS RELATED TO CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR, THERE HAVE BEEN MANY INSTANCES IN WHICH CRIMES MAY HAVE BEEN THE RESULT OF OR ASSOCIATED WITH EPILEPTIC SEIZURES OR THEIR SEQUELAE. AN EARLY (1875) STUDY OF TEMPORARY MENTAL DISORDERS AFTER EPILEPTIC SEIZURES CONCLUDED THAT EPILEPSY OFTEN IS ASSOCIATED WITH INSANITY AND NOTED THAT BEHAVIORAL ABERRATIONS FOLLOWING SEIZURES ARE CHARACTERIZED BY MENTAL AUTOMATISM. A LATER (1893) STUDY MENTIONED 'EPILEPTIC MANIA'--A SEQUELA WHICH MAY TAKE THE PLACE OF A PHYSICAL CONVULSION AND WHICH MAY BE VIOLENT OR EVEN HOMICIDAL. MORE RECENT RESEARCH HAS NOTED THE PRESENCE DURING AND AFTER SEIZURES OF PSYCHOTIC STATES THAT OFTEN ARE EXTREMELY VIOLENT. IN 1961, AN ILLUSTRATIVE CASE OF PSYCHOMOTOR EPILEPSY IN WHICH HOMICIDE WAS COMMITTED DURING A PERIOD OF UNAWARENESS WAS DESCRIBED. THIS STUDY SUMMARIZED CRITERIA FOR DECIDING WHETHER A CRIME IS ATTRIBUTABLE TO AN EPILEPTIC CONDITION. SUBSEQUENT RESEARCHERS HAVE USED A VARIETY OF TECHNIQUES TO EXPLORE EPILEPTIC SEIZURES AND BEHAVIOR DISORDERS IN OFFENDERS, MENTAL DEFECTIVES, DELINQUENTS, AND OTHER POPULATIONS. IT APPEARS THAT CRIMES CAUSED BY EPILEPSY ARE RARE. TO CORRELATE AN EPILEPTIC DISORDER WITH ANY CRIME REQUIRES AN INTENSIVE CLINICAL STUDY THAT SHOULD INCLUDE NEUROLOGICAL, PSYCHIATRIC, PSYCHOLOGICAL, ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHIC, AND NEUROSURGICAL DIAGNOSTIC TESTS. LONG-TERM THERAPY AND SUPERVISION MAY BE REQUIRED FOR INDIVIDUALS IN WHOM VIOLENCE AND EPILEPSY ARE ASSOCIATED. NO LIST OF REFERENCES IS PROVIDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)