Sociodemographic and Diagnostic Characteristics of Homicidal and Nonhomicidal Sexual Offenders

• NCJ Number: 236900
• Journal: Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 56 Issue: 6 Dated: November 2011 Pages: 1626-1631
• Author(s): Judith Koch, M.A.; Wolfgang Berner, M.D.; Andreas Hill, M.D.; Peer Briken, M.D.
• Date Published: November 2011
• Length: 6 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The aims of this study were to compare the prevalence of psychiatric disorders and "psychopathy" in homicidal and nonhomicidal sexual offenders and to investigate the specificity of previous studies on psychiatric morbidity of a sample of sexual murderers.

Abstract

Information from court reports of 166 homicidal and 56 nonhomicidal sex offenders was evaluated using standardized instruments (SCID-II, PCL-R) and classification systems (DSM-IV). Sexual murderers were diagnosed more often with a personality disorder (80.1 percent vs. 50 Percent; p less than 0.001), especially schizoid personality disorder (16.3 percent vs. 5.4 percent; p less than 0.05), as well as with sexual sadism (36.7 percent vs. 8.9 percent; p less than 0.001) and sexual dysfunctions (21.7 percent vs. 7.1 percent; p less than 0.05). Additionally, they had more often used alcohol during the offense (63.2 percent vs. 41 percent; p less than 0.05). The results indicate that sexual murderers have more and a greater variety of psychiatric disorders when compared to nonhomicidal sex offenders. (Published Abstract)