Mental Illness

Question 1

Clinical Disorder Defn

Answer 1

Deviation of Statistical Norm (recidivistic crime is)
Deviation from ideal mental health (RC is bc don’t reach Maslow’s self-actualization)
Deviation from social norm (RC is)
Distress to self or others (uh yeah… except distressed doesn’t have to equal ill)
Seeking out Trt (RC isn’t usually this, but neither is paranoid scz)
Impairment in functioning (RC is, but what isn’t?)
Listing in DSM-V (APD, CD, stealing is all listed)
DSM defn of “mental do” (must be associated w important loss of freedom, behavioral/psych symptoms, not bc of specific event)
Biological dysfunction (brain imaging, genetics, etc)

Question 2

Psychiatric Disorders in Offenders

Answer 2

violent men are 4.5x more likely to have psychosis than non-violent, but less likely to have depression (bc if you have blunted emotions, you may not feel enough to be depressed, or maybe being in a gang gives you a family which buffers depression?)

61% boys/70% girls in juvie have psychiatric do, whites have higher prevalence (social adversity as a cause of crime affects minorities more, so the cause of crime in white kids is more likely to be a do)

half of adult offenders have child psychiatric hx, depression/substance abuse as a kid -> 12.6x more likely to be violent offender

Question 3

Schizophrenia

Answer 3

2 or more of these in 1 month: delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, catatonic behavior, negative symptoms (flat affect etc)

scz men are 2.4x more likely to be violent, women are 7.8x more likely (higher in women bc their base rates for crime are lower than men)

males 3x more likely to murder, females 22.3x more likely to murder

scz + substance abuse: 9x more likely to be violent in males, 20x females

dx for violent scz comes first about 50% of the time, but dx for female scz murderers comes first 90% of the time

Question 4

Schizotypy

Answer 4

3% base rate in pop

5 or more of: ideas of reference, odd beliefs, odd speech, paranoid ideation, inappropriate affect, odd appearance, lack of close friends, excessive social anxiety

more schizotypy in criminals than in controls

victimization is mediator (think bullies. they were usually bullied themselves. reactive aggression), reactive aggression explains 12% of variance in schizotypy

prefrontal impairment seen in scz/schizotypy and ASB (executive function, low iq, memory impairment, poor response inhibition, skin conductance deficit)

Question 5

ASD

Answer 5

criteria: deficits in social interaction, repetitive behavior, present in early dev, impairment in social functioning

1 in 68, 5x more common in boys, symptoms more severe in males, 53% demonstrate physical aggression

mentally ill offenders in institutions: 2.4% ASD, 2.4% maybe ASD, people w Asperger’s served on avg 11 more years than other mentally ill offenders

reactive aggression: they don’t plan on going out and robbing bank, but they have impulse control problems

Question 6

Borderline Personality Do

Answer 6

criteria: avoid abandonment, intense interpersonal relationships, unstable self-image, impulsive, suicidal thoughts, irritability, intense anger

base rate 6%, 3/4 female, familial risk for antisocial

25-50% in criminals, associated w aggression, mediates abuse-violent relationship in delinquent girls (if abused, more likely to develop BPD, more likely to be violent)

Eileen Wuornos: serial killer, father was sexually deviant, maternal abandonment at young age, emotional and physical abuse, 20 years of alc and prostitution