Comparison of Factors Associated with Parricide in Adults and Adolescents

There is substantial evidence that individuals with schizophrenia are at increased risk for violent criminal behavior and an even higher risk for committing murder, relative to the general population. Neuropsychological features of seven schizophrenic men who murdered family members were compared to neuropsychological features of seven schizophrenic men with no history of violence, criminal offenses or antisocial behavior. The two groups were matched for age, education, race, gender, handedness, and diagnosis, and had similar psychotic symptom profiles and substance abuse histories. The schizophrenic murderers demonstrated significantly worse neuropsychological impairment, involving executive dysfunction and memory dysfunction, relative to nonviolent schizophrenic men. Implications include: (1) specific neuropsychological deficits may increase the likelihood of some schizophrenic men to murder family members due to an impaired capacity to inhibit impulsive violent aggression; (2) neuropsychological status of schizophrenic defendants who commit domestic homicide should be considered by the trierof-fact when they are tried for murder.

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“…These circumstances have been identified as a forecaster for individuals who murder their parent (s) (Marleau et al 2006).…”

Section: Parricidementioning

confidence: 99%

Psychotic Domestic Murder: Neuropsychological Differences Between Homicidal and Nonhomicidal Schizophrenic Men

et al. 2012

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“…Some studies include in their analyses cases in which both parents are killed and cases in which a single parent is slain (see, e.g., Marleau et al, 2006;Millaud et al, 1996). There are studies that include cases in which other relatives are killed, provided that there is at least one parent among the victims whom the offender killed (see, e.g., LeBihan & Benezech, 2004) or attempted to kill (Newhill, 1991).…”

Section: Parricide Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The inclusion of sample subjects without controlling for age is problematic. For example, research has revealed differences in weapons used to kill parents by offender age (Heide, 1993c;Heide & Petee 2003, 2007b and in motivational dynamics behind the crime (Heide, 1992;Hillbrand & Cipriano, 2007;Marleau et al, 2006). Some studies that include both juvenile and adult offenders do discuss differences between these age groups, particularly as they apply to motivational dynamics.…”

Section: Parricide Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Matricide: A Critique of the Literature

Heide

Frei

2009

Trauma, Violence, & Abuse

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Matricide, the killing of mothers by their biological children, is a very rare event, comprising less that 2% of all U.S. homicides in which the victim-offender relationship is known. This manuscript examines more than 20 years of U.S. homicides to determine the age and gender characteristics of matricide offenders. These data reveal that most mothers are killed by their adult sons. Daughters younger than 18 years are the most infrequent killers of mothers. This article examines the incidence of parricide, the involvement of sons and daughters in matricidal incidents, and synthesizes the literature in terms of offender gender. Special attention is given to female matricide offenders, given the lack of research currently available with respect to this population. Implications for practice, policy, and research are discussed.

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“…Most studies of adult family homicide have been conducted with even smaller samples (,50) and in psychiatric settings, introducing bias toward associating the offense with serious mental illness. These studies suggest that a high proportion of parricidal offenders (offenders whose victim is a parent) had a diagnosis of a psychotic illness and had prior contact with psychiatric services (15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental Illness and Domestic Homicide: A Population-Based Descriptive Study

Oram¹,

Flynn²,

Shaw³

et al. 2013

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A significant minority of adult domestic homicide perpetrators had symptoms of mental illness at the time of the homicide. Most perpetrators, including those with mental illnesses, were not in contact with mental health services in the year before the offense. Risk reduction could be achieved through initiatives that encourage individuals with mental health problems to access mental health services and that develop closer interagency working, including between mental health services, police, social services, and domestic violence services.

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Comparison of Factors Associated with Parricide in Adults and Adolescents

Cited by 56 publications

References 17 publications

Psychotic Domestic Murder: Neuropsychological Differences Between Homicidal and Nonhomicidal Schizophrenic Men

Psychotic Domestic Murder: Neuropsychological Differences Between Homicidal and Nonhomicidal Schizophrenic Men

Matricide: A Critique of the Literature

Mental Illness and Domestic Homicide: A Population-Based Descriptive Study

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