VioLit summary: OBJECTIVE: The intent of this article by Rosner et al. was to examine adolescents charged with murder or homicide to better understand the precursors and correlates of their behavior. METHODOLOGY: The authors employed a quasi-experimental design by reviewing the cases of 45 late-adolescent males who were examined in the Forensic Psychiatric Clinic of the New York Criminal and Supreme Court between 1970 and 1974). Each subject was accused of a violent crime that resulted in the loss of a life, with a ratio of murder to manslaughter at 35 to 10. Each individual was examined by either two psychiatrists or one psychiatrist and one psychologist, with the quality and quantity of data varying depending on the defendant. Two different psychiatrists reviewed each of the defendants files, summarized them and coded the data; the coded data was then analyzed by two research associates. Definitions and criteria of the psychiatric diagnoses followed the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Diseases. FINDINGS/DISCUSSION: Individuals were classified as having personality disorders (22), schizophrenia (10), transient situational disturbances (5), or no mental disorder (4), with four cases in which the diagnosis was deferred. Alcohol was used by 27 of the adolescents and drugs were used by 19, with an increase in alcohol consumption with age. The mean number of arrests for the subjects was 3.74 and 31 of the adolescents had been previously arrested. Family structures of the defendants included separated (33) and intact (12); educational levels averaged between 8.41 years (for 17 year old defendants) and 9.68 years (for 18 year old defendants); ethnic background included Black (26), Hispanic (10), White (7) and other (2); the summary of dispositions included those who were sent to New York State Reform School (3), sent to a mental hospital (1), placed on probation for 0-5 years (9) and sent to prison (31); one individual died prior to sentencing. AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS: Because psychiatric evaluations did not occur for all adolescents accused of murder and manslaughter, the biases of the existing sample prevented extensive generalizations. The authors therefore suggested that psychiatric evaluations be obtained more frequently and that more intervention strategies be developed for youthful offenders before they reach the adult criminal justice system. Finally, the authors argued that if more effort were placed in prevention of deadly violence, less effort would be needed for punishment through the criminal justice system. (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) KW - New York KW - Juvenile Offender KW - Juvenile Violence KW - Juvenile Homicide KW - Homicide Offender KW - Violence Causes KW - Male Violence KW - Male Offender KW - Psychological Evaluation KW - Offender Characteristics KW - Juvenile Male KW - Offender Personality KW - Personality Characteristics KW - Personality Disorder KW - Mentally Disordered Juvenile KW - Mentally Disordered Offender KW - Mentally Ill Offender KW - Mentally Ill Juvenile
Language: en
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