NCJ Number
53120
Date Published
1978
Length
15 pages
Annotation
IN SUPPORT OF A VALIDATION STUDY OF A TWO-DIMENSIONAL METHOD FOR CLASSIFYING AGGRESSIVE CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR, A THEORY OF EPISODIC BEHAVIORAL DISORDER WAS REVIEWED, ALONG WITH PSYCHOLOGICAL MEASURES OF DYSCONTROL BEHAVIOR.
Abstract
MONROE (1970) DEFINED EPISODIC BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS (EBD) AS 'PRECIPITOUSLY APPEARING MALADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR THAT INTERUPTS THE LIFE STYLE AND LIFE FLOW OF THE INDIVIDUAL.' HE CLASSIFIED BEHAVIOR DISORDERS AS FOLLOWS: (1) EPISODIC INHIBITIONS, INCLUDING NARCOLEPSY, CATALEPSY, AKINETIC MUTISM, PERIODIC CATATONIA, AND PETIT MAL STATUS, AND (2) EPISODIC DISINHIBITIONS, CLASSIFIED FURTHER INTO TWO SMALLER SUBGROUPS--EPISODIC DYSCONTROL AND EPISODIC REACTIONS. EPISODIC DYSCONTROL IS CHARACTERIZED BY AN INTERRUPTION IN LIFE STYLE AND FLOW WHICH IS REPRESENTED BY AN ABRUPT ACT OR SERIES OF ACTS WITH A COMMON INTENTION, CARRIED THROUGH TO COMPLETION WITH EITHER RELIEF OF TENSION OR GRATIFICATION OF SPECIFIC NEED. ANTISOCIAL IN NATURE, SUCH ACTS ARE MOTIVATED BY INTENSE FEELINGS OF FEAR OR RAGE WITH LIMITED OR NO FORESIGHT. MONROE FURTHER PRESENTED CLINICAL AND ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE INFERRING AN EPILEPTOID MECHANISM UNDERYLING ALL EPISODIC BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS. IN DETERMINING THE IMPORTANCE OF EPILEPTOID VERSUS MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS, HE COMPARED CLINICAL AND EEG DATA PHENOMENOLOGICALLY AND IT APPEARED THAT EPILEPTOID MECHANISMS PLAY AN INCREASINGLY SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN CONTRAST TO MOTIVATIONAL MECHANISMS WHEN CERTAIN CRITERIA ARE MET (E.G., THE DYSCONTROL ACTS ARE PRIMITIVE AND DIFFUSE, THE ELICITING SITUATION IS NEUTRAL OR AMBIGUOUS). ALTHOUGH A REVIEW OF LITERATURE CONCERNING IMPULSIVITY AND AGGRESSIVE ACTING OUT INDICATES MANY DIFFERENT ASSESSMENT APPROACHES, THE THE RESULTS OF THESE INVESTIGATIONS HAVE BEEN CONTRADICTORY AND CONFUSION EXISTS CONCERNING THE UTILITY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TEST INSTRUMENTS IN ASSESSING THIS CONSTRUCT. THIS CONFUSION SEEMS TO BE MORE THE RESULT OF AN INADEQUATE APPRECIATION OF THE MULTIDIMENSIONALITY OF THE CONSTRUCT RATHER THAN OF A FAULTY SELECTION OF TEST INSTRUMENTS. FOR EXAMPLE, MCDONALD (1971), USING A FACTOR ANALYTIC APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF IMPULSE CONTROL IN CHILDREN FOUND NO LESS THAN THREE ORTHOGONAL FACTORS EMERGING WITH THE USE OF A WIDE VARIETY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TEST INSTRUMENTS. THESE FACTORS WERE LABELED CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM INTEGRATION, COGNITIVE CONTROL, AND BEHAVIORAL CONTROL. GRAPHIC DATA AND REFERENCES PROVIDED. (KBL)