Citation

Reutens S, Butler T, Hwang YIJ, Withall A. Psychiatry Psychol. Law. 2023; 30(5): 618-631.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Law, Publisher Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/13218719.2022.2073285

PMID

37744644

PMCID

PMC10512789

Abstract

We sought to determine whether or not there were differences in medical, criminological and legal factors between older and younger offenders with diagnoses of delusional jealousy by undertaking a retrospective case-file search of Australian legal databases. Our results demonstrate that older offenders were more likely to have comorbid dementia whereas younger offenders were more likely to have comorbid substance use and chronic psychotic conditions. A history of domestic violence frequently predated the index offence but we were unable to determine if this was due to psychosis or a pre-existing tendency for violence. Despite a common diagnosis, the older offenders were more likely to be made forensic patients rather than sentenced prisoners when compared with the younger offenders. Consequently, different factors might mediate the pathway to violence in older and younger people suffering from delusional jealousy and could be additional targets for clinical intervention.

Language: en

Keywords

assault; psychosis; crime; delusional jealousy; forensic; murder; older criminals