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Sonnweber M, Lau S, Kirchebner J. Exploring Characteristics of Homicide Offenders With Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders Via Machine Learning. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OFFENDER THERAPY AND COMPARATIVE CRIMINOLOGY 2024; 68:713-732. [PMID: 35730542 DOI: 10.1177/0306624x221102799] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The link between schizophrenia and homicide has long been the subject of research with significant impact on mental health policy, clinical practice, and public perception of people with psychiatric disorders. The present study investigates factors contributing to completed homicides committed by offenders diagnosed with schizophrenia referred to a Swiss forensic institution, using machine learning algorithms. Data were collected from 370 inpatients at the Centre for Inpatient Forensic Therapy at the Zurich University Hospital of Psychiatry. A total of 519 variables were explored to differentiate homicidal and other (violent and non-violent) offenders. The dataset was split employing variable filtering, model building, and selection embedded in a nested resampling approach. Ten factors regarding criminal and psychiatric history and clinical factors were identified to be influential in differentiating between homicidal and other offenders. Findings expand the research on influential factors for completed homicide in patients with schizophrenia. Limitations, clinical relevance, and future directions are discussed.
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Balcioglu YH, Golenkov AV, Yildiz A, Uzlar RD, Oncu F. Homicide perpetrators with psychotic illness found not criminally responsible in Turkiye and Russia: An international comparison. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LAW AND PSYCHIATRY 2024; 93:101962. [PMID: 38330511 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijlp.2024.101962] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2023] [Revised: 01/27/2024] [Accepted: 02/02/2024] [Indexed: 02/10/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The primary objective was to conduct a comparative analysis of homicide cases and their perpetrators with psychotic illnesses in samples from Turkiye and Russia to elucidate contextual similarities and differences, and providing novel perspectives to enhance international research in this field. METHOD This cross-national retrospective study, conducted at forensic psychiatric centers in Istanbul, Turkiye, and Chuvashia, Russia, involved individuals with psychotic illnesses (ICD-10 F20-F29) who were deemed criminally non-responsible for index homicide offenses between December 2012 and December 2022. The sample included 92 Turkish patients and 29 Russian patients who were compared for background, clinical characteristics, and each homicidal act. RESULTS Binary analyses revealed that Russian subjects were more educated, had more lifetime suicide attempts, longer illness duration, had acquaintances as victims more frequently, higher rates of blunt traumatic homicides, higher rates of intoxication with alcohol or substances, and lower rates of experiencing delusions at the time of the index homicide compared to their Turkish counterparts. Multivariate analyses indicated that more years of education, a greater frequency of lifetime suicide attempts, higher prevalence of intoxication and a lower rate of delusions at the time of the homicide were associated with belonging to the Russian group. CONCLUSION Despite several similarities, the remarkable differences between the two samples underscore the importance of international research in enhancing our understanding of mental health, homicidal offense and offender characteristics in the sociocultural context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yasin Hasan Balcioglu
- Forensic Psychiatry Unit, Bakirkoy Prof Mazhar Osman Training and Research Hospital for Psychiatry, Neurology, and Neurosurgery, Istanbul, Turkiye.
| | - Andrei Vasilyevich Golenkov
- Department of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology, Chuvash State University, Cheboksary, Republic of Chuvashia, Russian Federation
| | - Alperen Yildiz
- Forensic Psychiatry Unit, Bakirkoy Prof Mazhar Osman Training and Research Hospital for Psychiatry, Neurology, and Neurosurgery, Istanbul, Turkiye
| | - Rustem Dogan Uzlar
- Forensic Psychiatry Unit, Bakirkoy Prof Mazhar Osman Training and Research Hospital for Psychiatry, Neurology, and Neurosurgery, Istanbul, Turkiye
| | - Fatih Oncu
- Forensic Psychiatry Unit, Bakirkoy Prof Mazhar Osman Training and Research Hospital for Psychiatry, Neurology, and Neurosurgery, Istanbul, Turkiye
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Tao Z. 106 Cases of homicide poisoning in China-A retrospective study. Leg Med (Tokyo) 2023; 65:102317. [PMID: 37651821 DOI: 10.1016/j.legalmed.2023.102317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2023] [Revised: 07/14/2023] [Accepted: 08/14/2023] [Indexed: 09/02/2023]
Abstract
Homicidal poisoning has received limited scholarly attention, despite having recently increased in frequency in China, especially in rural areas, where it causes numerous deaths and disabilities. In this study, the author collected data on 106 cases of homicidal poisoning from 1995 to 2000. Of these cases 105 were found through website established by the Supreme Court of China, and one case was as an exception identified from the internet. There were 46 male perpetrators and 59 female perpetrators. The most common reason male perpetrators poisoned someone was conflict among neighbours (include residents in the same village) (ten cases), and the most common reason female perpetrators did so was an affair (13 cases). Compared with the perpetrators of general homicide, those who poisoned people included a high proportion of female, elderly, and well-educated individuals. This is related to the nonviolent nature of the poisoning, which requires no physical strength. Residents living in rural and urban areas chose poisoning based on convenience. People living in rural areas used pesticides most often, and people in urban areas have greater access to drugs or medications obtained at work or online. In this study, a total of 9.4% of the perpetrators were diagnosed with psychiatric disorders or psychosis. In all, the 106 cases resulted in 58 human deaths. Tetramine and paraquat caused many of the deaths, and this suggests a need for the government to manage and monitor these highly toxic pesticides. These cases are representative of issues in contemporary Chinese society, for example, population mobility, fierce competition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhuoli Tao
- The Psychology Research Center, Department of Medical Humanities, the School of Humanities, National Southeast University China.
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Karakasi MV, Markopoulou M, Nikolaidis I, Voultsos P, Avramidis A, Nastoulis E, Fotou E, Douzenis A, Pavlidis P. The phenomenon of overkill in northern Greece: A descriptive forensic psychiatric study between 2015 and 2020 on criminal offenders found not guilty by reason of insanity. J Forensic Leg Med 2022; 90:102387. [PMID: 35714418 DOI: 10.1016/j.jflm.2022.102387] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2022] [Revised: 05/21/2022] [Accepted: 05/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
The purpose of this descriptive study was to investigate overkill in a representative sample of Greek psychiatric patients found not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRIs) from a forensic psychiatric - criminological standpoint and explore possible correlations of the phenomenon with socio-cultural or psychiatric factors. Overall, 24 forensic psychiatric records of overkill offenders were identified throughout the 5-year records of the national forensic psychiatric service in northern Greek mainland. The pattern that has emerged from the statistical results of the present study on the victims of overkill within the Greek borders was generally in line with global literature on homicide perpetrators. The mean age of overkill offenders (at the time of enactment of the crime) was estimated at 36.3 years ranging from 19 to 55 years (variance = 146.72; standard deviation = 12.11). The number of male single-offence killers was ten-times larger compared to their female counterparts, while the number of male multiple-offence killers were three-times larger compared to their female counterparts. Male offenders were averagely 15 years younger (mean 33.7; variance = 81.69; standard deviation = 9) in comparison to female offenders, and single-offence killers were averagely ten years younger compared to multiple-offence killers (mean 40.2; variance = 185.19; standard deviation = 13.6). The phenomenon correlated more strongly with homicides in the context of schizophrenia spectrum disorders (80-100%) as well as domestic violence. Overall, males outnumbered females both as offenders (approximately five-times) and victims (approximately three-times), but regarding domestic violence, the sad majority of overkill victims stood for females murdered by their male relatives. Close female relatives (especially mothers and grandmothers) were most often victimized. Female-perpetrated overkill was directed against male individuals with whom offenders shared a relationship (intimate partners and minors). An important finding was the fact that three-quarters of the overall perpetrator sample were under prescribed medication at the time of offence, but with a very low compliance rate (5.6%). This last particular finding of the present study demonstrated that mental health services within community in Greece may unfortunately have been ineffective in addressing issues requiring risk assessment and timely intervention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria-Valeria Karakasi
- 3rd Department of Psychiatry, AHEPA University General Hospital - Department of Mental Health, Aristotle University - Faculty of Medicine, GR 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece; Laboratory of Forensic Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, School of Medicine, GR 68100, Alexandroupolis, Greece
| | - Maria Markopoulou
- Department of Forensic Psychiatry, Psychiatric Hospital of Thessaloniki, GR 56429, Stavroupolis, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Ioannis Nikolaidis
- 2nd Department of Neurology, AHEPA University General Hospital - Department of Neurosciences, Aristotle University - Faculty of Medicine, GR 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Polychronis Voultsos
- Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Aristotle University - Faculty of Medicine, GR 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Athanasios Avramidis
- Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GR 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Evangelos Nastoulis
- Laboratory of Forensic Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, School of Medicine, GR 68100, Alexandroupolis, Greece
| | - Eleni Fotou
- Laboratory of Forensic Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, School of Medicine, GR 68100, Alexandroupolis, Greece
| | - Athanasios Douzenis
- 2nd Department of Psychiatry, Attikon University Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, GR 12462, Chaidari, Greece
| | - Pavlos Pavlidis
- Laboratory of Forensic Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, School of Medicine, GR 68100, Alexandroupolis, Greece.
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Kovács A, Ladányi B, Farkas N, Stempel L, Kiss D, Bittermann É, Rácz J. The recovery of homicidal people diagnosed with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder-An interpretative phenomenological analysis. Front Psychiatry 2022; 13:951678. [PMID: 36741576 PMCID: PMC9892903 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.951678] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2022] [Accepted: 12/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Identity recovery in people diagnosed with schizophrenia who have committed homicide poses several difficulties. Premorbid mental illnesses, the experience of psychosis, and the absence of cohesive ego functions may result in the inability to integrate the homicidal act into self-identity. Problems with integration increase the risk of recidivism and further mental problems. The aim of the present research was to explore how homicidal people diagnosed with schizophrenia make sense of their actions, and how they identify with the homicide. METHOD Six semi-structured interviews were conducted at a long-term psychiatric home with people who had committed homicide and who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), an idiographic method rooted in phenomenologist traditions that focuses on how participants experience and make sense of events in their lives, and how those events affect their identity and sense of self. RESULTS Three personal experiential themes were established as a result of the analysis: (1) homicide and responsibility; (2) homicide and self; and (3) control over threats to self and self-evaluation. (1) Homicide was often reported to have been committed in a non-conscious, delusional state that may have led to the loss of self-determination. (2) Our interviewees struggled to integrate their acts into their identities. They distanced themselves from the crime or held multiple, parallel interpretations of the act. (3) Recovering patients experienced the constant threat of entering into a delusional reality and losing control. The importance of control was central to their self-evaluation. The patients appeared to distance themselves from the homicidal act and to regard their delusional selves as a threat to their lives. CONCLUSION Therapy aimed at bolstering self-control, supporting the integration of the fragmented self, and raising awareness of the connections between delusional reality and standard, intersubjective reality may be helpful in reducing the instability of the self. Therapy aimed at processing complex grief and loss of family is also needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asztrik Kovács
- Doctoral School of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.,Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Bence Ladányi
- Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.,Department of Criminal Investigation, Hungarian National Police Headquarters, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Noémi Farkas
- Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Laura Stempel
- Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Dániel Kiss
- Doctoral School of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
| | | | - József Rácz
- Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.,Department of Addictology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
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Boskabadi J, Kargar-Soleiman Abad S, Mehrpisheh S, Pishavar E, Farhadi R. Suicide due to fear of COVID-19, in the last month of pregnancy, leads to neonatal seizure: A case report. Ann Med Surg (Lond) 2021; 72:103119. [PMID: 34840782 PMCID: PMC8610832 DOI: 10.1016/j.amsu.2021.103119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2021] [Revised: 11/19/2021] [Accepted: 11/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction and importance: Limited data are available about various effects of COVID-19 on pregnancy. On the other hand, the COVID-19 pandemic could exacerbate anxiety or schizophrenia symptoms. Case presentation The patient is a 5-day-old newborn, whom his mother suffers from schizophrenia, depression and anxiety disorders. The young pregnant mother gets delusions of being infected with Covid-19, thus attempts suicide with Sertraline, Clonazepam, Quetiapine and Rispeirdone, although she was in the last week of pregnancy. The newborn baby referred to our neonatal ward with seizure and apnea. Phenytoin and caffeine were administered leading to some degree of symptom relief, but due to the dermatologic reactions of phenytoin, they were replaced with levetiracetam. Clinical discussion The Covid-19 may increase levels of anxiety and depression or exacerbation of schizophrenia symptoms, especially in pregnant women suffering from mental disorders. In addition, there are evidence supporting the occurrence of neonatal malformations as a result of exposure to antipsychotic drugs during the first trimester of pregnancy. Conclusion Investigating the role of antidepressant and antipsychotic drugs in the perinatal period, especially near delivery has received less attention so far; thus further studies are required to determine the safety of these drugs. The COVID-19 pandemic could exacerbate anxiety or schizophrenia symptoms. The pregnancy may be associated with a fear of COVID-19. Antipsychotic drugs may cause neonatal malformations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Javad Boskabadi
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
| | | | - Shahrokh Mehrpisheh
- Department of Neonatology, Faculty of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
| | - Elham Pishavar
- Department of Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Roya Farhadi
- Department of Neonatology, Pediatrics Infectious Diseases Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
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