Week 4 Flashcards
What’s the definition of aggression and violence?
Aggression is any behavior that is hostile, injurious, or destructive and has the potential to inflict injury or damage to persons or objects.
- non-violent such as harassment and verbal assaults toward others,
- violent use of physical force or power that results in injury or harm.
Violence is any intentional behavior that involves verbal threats or assaults, or physicality.
- Examples: Damaging property and self-harming, including self-mutilation and suicide attempts.
violence is a type of aggression
Are all aggression criminal or pathological?
no,
- Not all acts of aggression (both violent and non-violent aggression) are criminal or pathological as aggression can be adaptive, occurring in the context of dangerous and imminent threat (Siever, 2008).
What is the link between mental illnesses, violenece and aggression?
- Mental illness is often exaggeratingly been associated with aggressive and violent behavior.
- Evidence shows that individuals with mental illness are responsible for only a fraction of violence committed in the society
- However, modest, but significant, association exists between mental illness and violence
- The extent to which the presence of a mental illness per se increases the propensity to engage in delinquent and antisocial behavior continues to be a topic of controversy.
What is the link between schizophrenia and criminal offending?
- Results indicated that individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia were significantly more likely to be convicted of a criminal offense than their community sample counterparts.
- Clear association between schizophrenia and higher rates of offending, including violent offending.
- Having schizophrenia is therefore a risk factor for offending and in particular for violent offending.
- Associations such as these do not necessarily reflect causal connections, but they do raise the question of the nature of the relationship between having schizophrenia and being more likely to be convicted of criminal offenses.
What percentage of the population is affected by schizophrenia?
approximately 1% of individuals in their lifetime.
How is schizophrenia associated with violence?
Individuals with schizophrenia are more likely to exhibit violent and aggressive behaviors compared to the general population.
List some violent behaviors linked to schizophrenia.
Damaging property, arson, assault, homicide, self-mutilation, and suicide.
Which acts of violence are most strongly associated with schizophrenia?
Arson and homicide.
What symptoms are most associated with violence in schizophrenia?
Positive symptoms like persecutory delusions and command hallucinations.
Comorbidity: Schizophrenia and Substance Abuse
How common is substance abuse in schizophrenia?
About 50% of patients receive a substance abuse diagnosis.
What factors influence substance abuse in schizophrenia?
Youth, male gender, and low socioeconomic status.
Comorbidity: Schizophrenia and Personality Disorders
How does comorbidity with personality disorders affect violence risk in schizophrenia?
It significantly increases the risk, especially with borderline or antisocial personality disorders.
Serotonin-Dopamine Interaction and Aggression
What role does serotonin play in aggression in schizophrenia?
Serotonin inhibits dopamine signaling; reduced inhibition is linked to aggression.
Dopamine association with aggression results from serotonin inhibitory activity
Which socio-cognitive deficits are risk factors for violence in schizophrenia?
Deficient theory of mind and lack of empathy.
How do mentalizing abilities affect aggression type?
Premeditated aggression is linked to intact cognitive but deficient affective understanding, while impulsive aggression stems from overall diminished mentalizing.
