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Abstract
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VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The intent of this article by Bach-Y-Rita and Veno was to examine 62 habitually violent men for life history and clinical variables, to identify their behavior patterns and to determine if they were a heterogeneous or homogeneous group. All 62 men were patient/inmates and they were examined in a California Department of Corrections.
METHODOLOGY:
The authors employed a quasi-experimental design with a one-time survey that was given to each patient/inmate within a week of arriving at the California Department of Corrections facility. The facility was established in 1971 and designed to detain men who were especially prone to violent behavior. The survey the patient/inmates completed was designed to reflect aggressive and self-destructive behavior through social and psychological functioning, significant childhood events and family patterns. Each patient/inmate was also given a psychiatric evaluation. The mean age of the total cohort was 34; 29 of them were white; 21 were black; 10 were Spanish-American; and 2 were American Indian. Data were analyzed using the chi-square technique.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
90% of the prisoners had more than 3 arrests; 82% had spent more than 5 years in prison; 37% had been incarcerated more than 3 times; 73% admitted to having used a weapon on another person; and 24% had assaulted their father or stepfather. One half of the patients had seriously attempted to hurt themselves, with 42% mutilating their bodies to the point of scarring. This last figure was 5 or 6 times greater than expected for a prison population. The history of concussions was 61%, in line with the unusually high incidence of abnormal electroencephalograms among violent offenders. Non-drug-induced hallucinations occurred auditorially in 31% of the patients and visually in 27%. Four subgroups were identified from the study: 1) A self-destructive group which was more anxious, demanding, restless and depressed that the other groups. 2) A quiet and withdrawn group which was prone to delusions (13 diagnosed as schizophrenic). 3) A group that did not bear scars of self-mutilation but was self-destructive. 4) A group free of manifest psychopathology, free of delusions and not self-destructive. Using chi-squared analysis it was determined that the self-destructive prisoners were also the most likely to have used a weapon on somebody (p<.02); were most likely to have been cruel to animals as a child (p<.025); were more likely to have spontaneously blacked out by the age of 10 (p<.001); and were more likely to have been raised by both biological parents until school age (p<.025). The most salient characteristic of the entire group of patient/inmates was the high incidence of aggression toward others as well as self-mutilation. The authors suggested that either they were impulsive, stimulus seeking children or they were victims of violence that led to neurological damage and behavioral disorders. The large amount of spontaneous loss of consciousness, seizures, and concussions during childhood also suggested neurological impairment as a result of deprivation or injury.
AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS:
The difference between habitually violent men and psychopathologically violent men, the authors argued, should be explored more carefully in similar studies so as to understand the different needs of these two groups. The clinical findings also suggested that many violent men may respond to pharmacological treatment and should be examined for psychopathology much earlier in their incarceration in order to prevent the worsening of their condition. Finally, the authors suggested that more extensive life history data should be gathered for all such prisoners in order to better understand the chronically violent.
(CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
N1 - Call Number: F-526, AB-526
KW - California
KW - Adult Male
KW - Adult Inmate
KW - Adult Offender
KW - Adult Violence
KW - Male Inmate
KW - Male Violence
KW - Male Offender
KW - Violence Causes
KW - Inmate Studies
KW - Incarcerated
KW - Repeat Offender
KW - Offender Characteristics
KW - Life Course
KW - Self Mutilation
KW - Self Destructive Behavior
KW - Offender Psychopathology
KW - Adult Psychopathology
Language: en |