The prediction of adolescent homicide: episodic dyscontrol and dehumanization

Adult crime is said to be more likely in those who as children showed a triad of enuresis, firesetting, and cruelty to animals, but this syndrome is not present with greater frequency in violent than nonviolent individuals. It has been generally agreed that dangerous acts cannot be predicted in a person who has not acted in a dangerous way. However, recognizable homicidal characters have been shown on the stage. Most psychiatric literature attempts from retrospective studies to deduce what ought to be sought to make the prediction of homicide possible, but recently some psychological tests on prisoners have been shown to have a predictive value indicating the possibility of violent behavior. A study of ten adolescents, nine boys and one girl, in whom a prediction of murderousness was made, describes definable syndromes in which the attempted murder of another human being is more or less inevitable.

Duke Scholars

Author John Guy Looney Psychiatry, Child & Family Mental Health & Community Psychia ...