Citation

Marten S, Munoz RA, Gentry KA, Robins E. Compr. Psychiatry 1972; 13(3): 241-249.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1972, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/0010-440X(72)90069-7

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

A group of 314 patients coming to a psychiatric emergency room was studied by means of a structured clinical interviewing containing 819 items. A portion of these items concerned belligerent thoughts, verbalizations, or acts. Males were more belligerent than females, younger patients were more belligerent than older ones, but there was no difference in belligerence between blacks and whites. The only psychopathology associated with increased rates of belligerence was antisocial personality and/or alcoholism. There was no relationship demonstrated between belligerent and self-destructive behavior. It is suggested that systematic clinical interviews of clinical populations, follow-up studies, and family studies may be a productive way in which to study belligerent behavior, in addition to demographic studies confined only to serious violence that has already occurred.