Family violence reported in a psychiatric emergency room

The prevalence of family violence reported in psychiatric emergency rooms is relatively undocumented, despite the clinical and legal concern for dangerousness. This study assesses the prevalence of aggression incidents reported to clinicians and physicians during evaluation interviews (n =389).Two-thirds of the total number of subjects reported being involved in an aggression incident sometime in their past. Only 8% reported being the victim of such incidents. About one-half of the cases involved physical assaults; nearly one-half of these assaults had family members as victims. One third of the total cases had been assaultive within 3 months; one sixth had been assaultive within 2 weeks of visiting the hospital. Clinicians and researchers are urged to consider more systematically family violence in psychiatric settings.     

Deceptive behaviour and instrumental violence among psychopathic and non-psychopathic violent forensic psychiatric patients

Deceptive behaviour and instrumental violence are well-known psychopathic features and as such play important roles in the assessment of psychopathy. This study examined first, the nature of the violence committed by offenders that have been admitted to forensic psychiatric care and whether scores on the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV), Part 1, were associated with the instrumentality of violence. Second, we examined the proneness of offenders to re-frame the instrumentality in their past violent crimes, and whether this was associated with scores on the PCL:SV. The results show that the PCL:SV, Part 1 (interpersonal/affective features), was positively related to the officially coded instrumentality of the violent crimes. As expected, this association disappeared when the instrumentality was self-reported. However, the majority of the patients tended to exaggerate the reactivity of their violent crimes when it was self-reported, indicating that most offenders, independently of level of psychopathy, used deception when questioned about the characteristics of their past violent crimes. The reasons for, and implications of, the use of deception are discussed.     

191例暴力犯罪司法精神医学鉴定案例分析

目的:探讨司法鉴定中暴力犯罪类型与各种精神疾病的关系及特点。方法:对1997-2002年司法鉴定的暴力犯罪案件191例进行分析。结果:在本组资料中,精神疾病患者暴力犯罪以杀人、伤害多见,作案隐蔽性差、对环境辨认能力差,作案动机主要受病态影响,常不选择时间、地点,不顾及后果,攻击对象以亲人、熟人多见为主要特征。结论:掌握精神疾病患者与精神正常者不同的作案规律和特征,是鉴别是否由精神病性症状所致暴力犯罪的基本要素。     

Sharp Force Homicide in Denmark 1992–2016

Sharp force trauma is a common homicide method. The weapon is typically a knife, which is easily accessible and does not require special skills. We have analyzed all 471 sharp force homicides in Denmark during 1992–2016 with special focus on aspects that are relevant to forensic pathologists, including the distribution of wounds and organ injuries. Most homicides were committed inside with a kitchen knife. The front left thorax was the most common area to be affected by sharp force trauma. In 18.9% of the victims, there was only one sharp injury, the majority on the thorax. The most common trajectory for stab wounds was directly posterior with no deviation to the sides or up/down followed by directly anterior. The heart (including pericardium) and lungs (including hemo- and pneumothorax) had injuries in more than 75% of the victims. 67% of victims were males. Female victims had more sharp force injuries and defense wounds than male victims. Most females were killed in domestic homicides (73.7%), most commonly in partner killings (56.4%). In contrast, many male victims were killed in a setting of nightlife/intoxication (34.0%) most by a friend/acquaintance delivering a few stab wounds. The results clearly show strong sex differences in both victims and offenders. This could be useful for shaping policies and public opinion, and as a route for understanding the developments in interpersonal violence. In the narrow setting of death investigation, our results will provide an evidence-based approach to understanding the injury patterns in sharp force homicide.     

关于进一步规范精神疾病司法鉴定执业活动的几点思考

精神疾病司法鉴定问题一直以来备受公众责难,处理不好将影响社会公共安全和秩序,并对精神疾病患者的合法权益造成损害。解决此问题的关键是要认清精神疾病司法鉴定的特点,进一步规范精神疾病司法鉴定的执业活动,并在此基础之上正确厘清审判职能与鉴定功能的关系,以确保精神疾病司法鉴定活动的顺利进行。     

法医精神病鉴定内容架构及评定要点解析

法医精神病鉴定在刑事、民事和行政三大诉讼领域中,以鉴定意见的证据形式发挥着重要作用。然而,与其重要性不相匹配的是,法医精神病鉴定学科发展尚不完善、专业发育尚不成熟,尚不能满足社会和民众的期盼和要求,甚至引发负面评价。为进一步促进法医精神病鉴定规范化、标准化建设。以法医精神病鉴定人的视角,结合法医精神病鉴定的内容架构,重点阐述法医精神病鉴定主要项目及其作用、评定要点,尤其聚焦刑事责任能力评定,阐明当前存在分歧和困难;简要介绍法医精神病鉴定人执业要求、法医精神病鉴定质量控制;以及简述法医精神病鉴定与临床精神医学实践的区别与联系。     

105例生前精神异常的水中尸体回顾性分析

目的：分析生前精神异常的水中尸体的特点,为此类案件鉴定和分析提供参考。方法调查2010年1月至2014年6月上海市公安局水上公安局检验的所有生前精神异常的水中尸体档案105例,对死者一般情况、尸检情况、案情调查情况和疾病史进行统计分析。结果自杀104例,死者受教育程度较低,天气较暖时案件较多,尸体多在2d内被发现。多数死者没有自杀史,没有遗书,但在临死前出现行为、心理的异常变化。抑郁症、抑郁状态和精神分裂症是主要的精神障碍类型,仅有9名死者曾坚持进行正规治疗。结论精神异常是投水自杀的高危因素,监护人员应该警惕患者的异常行为,特别是气温转暖时。     

Internet mediated crimes and theoretical approaches

Purpose: in the literature, the term ‘Internet crime’ has been coined to indicate the scenario in which a victim of homicide or other crimes is met through a chat room, and lured to death at the hands of the murderer. Various criticisms have been made of this new concept, on the grounds that the outcome is no different from that of other crimes committed without the use of Web resources, and so the method used has no particular influence. Indeed, it has been claimed that informatic crime just reflects a technological change in the nature of crime rather than a new form of criminal behavior attributable to the use of the Internet for criminal purposes. Method: our reflections were prompted by our experience as expert forensic psychiatry witnesses in three cases in which the aggressors had confessed to having had an exclusively virtual relationship with the victims, in which they spent a lot of time daily in a chat room. Conclusion: this scenario offers points for reflection on the nature of Web-mediated victim–aggressor interactions, to assess the effects on the planning and commission of the crime. Discussion. it’s our opinion that there really is such a thing as Internet-correlated crime, because in this case the quality and quantity of the Internet interactions progressively altered the men’s perception of the real relationship between themself and their victims.     

Intellectual Quotient of Juveniles Evaluated in a Forensic Psychiatry Clinic After Committing a Violent Crime*

Abstract: The purpose of this preliminary study is to evaluate if there is a difference between the intelligence quotient (IQ) of 27 adolescent defendants referred to the Bellevue Hospital Center Forensic Psychiatry Clinic after committing violent crimes, and those adolescents in the same age group in the general population of the United States, as defined by the norms of the psychometric testing instrument Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, 4th edition (WISC‐IV). The IQ scores and sub‐scores were compared to IQ scores of the general population (mean = 100, SD = 15) using a Z‐test. The mean for the Full Scale IQ was 82.93. The means for the subtests which include Processing Speed Index, Perceptual Reasoning Index, Verbal Comprehension Index, and Working Memory Index, were: 78.48, 87.78, 86.70 (p < 0.05), and 90.78 (p = 0.09) respectively. There is a statistically significant difference in the IQ scores of the violent juveniles studied when compared to the general population.     

涉嫌暴力违法的女性被鉴定人犯罪学特征分析

目的 探究涉嫌暴力违法的女性被鉴定人的犯罪学特征.方法 采用自制的统计表对2000-2009年进行司法鉴定的女性被鉴定人进行登记,并进行回顾性分析.结果 259例被鉴定人的年龄为16～81岁,其中45岁及以下为205例(79.2%);已婚225例(86.9%);诊断的种类共14种,其中精神分裂症47.1%、无精神病15...     

Variables influencing victim selection in genocide

While victims of racially motivated violence may be identified through observation of morphological features, those targeted because of their ethnic, religious, or national identity are not easily recognized. This study examines how perpetrators of genocide recognize their victims. Court documents, including indictments, witness statements, and testimony from the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia (FY) detail the interactions between victim and assailant. A total of 6012 decedents were included in the study; only 20.8% had been positively identified. Variables influencing victim selection in Rwanda included location, segregation, incitement, and prior relationship, while significant factors in FY were segregation, location, age/gender, and social data. Additional contributing factors in both countries included self-identification, victim behavior, linguistic or clothing evidence, and morphological features. Understanding the system of recognition used by perpetrators aids investigators tasked with establishing victim identity in such prosecutions.     

道路交通事故精神伤残评定相关问题

近年来,道路交通事故频繁发生,造成严重的人身伤害。许多颅脑损伤患者伤后常出现明显的行为或认知缺陷,创伤性脑损伤患者精神障碍的患病率明显增高,精神伤残的评定日益增多。但同时,关于精神伤残评定的争议也日益激烈。首先介绍国内外精神伤残的相关概念,然后分析道路交通事故精神伤残评定标准存在的不足和缺陷,重点分析道路交通事故中精神伤残程度的影响因素,并介绍精神伤残评定中的检查方法,最后提出解决精神伤残评定分歧的思路。