Citation

Foley SR, Kelly BD. Am. J. Forensic Psychiatr. 2007; 28(4): 7-14.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, American College of Forensic Psychiatry, Publisher R. Shlensky)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

There is a high prevalence of mental illness among prisoners awaiting execution but a dearth of information about the psychological concomitants of imminent execution. We used an adapted version of the Thematic Guide for Suicide Prediction to study predominant themes and psychological factors in last statements made by all death row prisoners executed in Texas between April 2002 and November 2006. The most common themes were spirituality, regret and love. The psychological factors most evident were identification-egression (associated with nonsexual offending, admitting to offense and expressing love), unbearable psychological pain (associated with younger age at offense and shorter period on death row) and rejection-aggression (associated with sexual offending, spiritual references, anger and absence of regret). There is similarity in psychological factors in last statements from death row and suicide notes, suggesting a convergence of psychological concerns at the end of life, regardless of the circumstances of imminent death. Copyright 2007 American Journal of Forensic Psychiatry.

Language: en

Keywords

United States; adolescent; attitude; adult; human; age; identity; male; prison; aggression; anger; prediction; article; major clinical study; mental disease; psychological aspect; love; sexual crime; religion; prisoner; punishment; thematic analysis; thematic guide for suicide prediction