Clinical and demographic characteristics of 15 patients with repetitively assaultive behavior

Abstract

The 15 patients with the highest numbers of assaultive incidents over a one year period in a state mental hospital were identified and information collected regarding a variety of clinical and demographic characteristics. The results showed a group of patients who are relatively young, manifest severe symptomatology that is generally unresponsive to treatment, and have now been hospitalized continuously for greater than four years. The patients experienced the onset of symptoms as teenagers in most cases, showed poor psychosocial adjustment beyond childhood, and had positive family histories for mental illness or alcohol abuse. Patients with psychotic disorders predominated and tended to have positive symptoms rated as severe to very severe on the Global Rating Scale for Psychosis. Patients with nonpsychotic or personality disorders always showed a high frequency of self-injurious behavior in addition to their aggressive behavior toward others. A number of patients had a history of head trauma with EEG abnormalities. This information provides a starting point for subsequent studies examining potential distinctions between this subpopulation of patients and others, the motivation and circumstances of such incidents, and the interaction between the behaviors and their effects on those around them.

Violence in psychiatric in-patients: review and clinical implications

“…The converse of this statement is also true: most psychiatric in-patients are not violent at all. Barber et al (1988) found that in a U S State hospital 15 long stay patients (average stay 4.5 years) accounted for alm ost half the total violence. A U K hospital survey, Noble and Rodger (1989), found that 91% of 1,529 admissions were not reported as being violent in any way.…”

Clinical Psychopathology, Untoward Incidents and the Use of Restrictive Procedures in Adults with Intellectual Disability

“…Hodgekinson et al. (1985), who found that 5.3% of inpatients (fewer than 20% of the total number of assaultative patients) were responsible for over half of the assaults recorded over a 2‐year period and Barber et al. (1988), who found that 3.3% of patients accounted for 48.6% of assaults in a 1‐year period in a United States State Mental Hospital.…”

Standard EEG: A Research Roadmap for Neuropsychiatry

“…With de-institutionalization, the problem is inherited by inner city communities where most of these patients tend to segregate. Barber et al (1988) examined the clinical characteristics of 15 patients with repetitively assaultive behavior. These patients constituted 3.3 % of the average daily census but accounted for 48.6 % of all assaultive incidents during a 1-year period.…”