Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrators in a Forensic Psychiatric Outpatient Setting

Abstract

This study investigated criminological, psychopathological, and victimological profiles of intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrators in a sample of 119 Dutch female and male forensic psychiatric outpatients aged 18 to 58 years. In addition, differences in criminological, psychopathological, and victimological factors between IPV perpetrators (n = 61, 51.3%) and non-intimate violence (NIV) perpetrators (n = 58, 48.7%) were examined. All data, including information on demographics, criminal history, history of psychological, sexual, and physical victimization during childhood or adolescence, family history of psychopathology, history of psychopathology in childhood and adolescence, and mental disorders, were derived from archival electronic medical records. Mental disorders were measured using structured psychiatric interviews and final consensus diagnoses were established during weekly case consultations. Both IPV and NIV perpetrators displayed high rates of criminal history, psychopathology, and previous victimization, but the two groups did not differ in these factors with two exceptions. IPV perpetrators were significantly more likely to have higher rates of previous physical victimization and intermittent explosive disorder than NIV perpetrators. The current study suggests that a history of physical victimization and intermittent explosive disorder are specific characteristics of IPV perpetrators in a forensic psychiatric outpatient setting. Future research should focus on mechanisms explaining the association of childhood victimization and IPV and increase our understanding of the role of intermittent explosive disorder in IPV.

Rates of Victimization of Violence Committed by Relatives With Psychiatric Disorders

“…Despite such negative consequences and the high rate of family violence committed by persons with psychiatric disorders, family violence committed by said persons has received very little research attention. In the past decade, we are aware of fewer than a dozen small-scale studies exploring this phenomenon (Ahn et al, 2012;Band-Winterstein, Avieli, & Smeloy, 2016;Chan, 2008;Elbogen, Swanson, Swartz, & Van Dorn, 2005;Kageyama et al, 2015), with many exclusively examining intimate partner violence (Friedman, Loue, Heaphy, & Mendez, 2011;Henrichs, Bogaerts, Sijtsema, & Klerx-van Mierlo, 2015;Heru, Stuart, Rainey, Eyre, & Recupero, 2006;Walsh et al, 2010). In addition, the vast majority of studies conducted focusing on this phenomenon have recruited participants with psychiatric disorders and/or their family members through inpatient psychiatric settings (Ahn et al, 2012;Binder & McNeil, 1986;Elbogen et al, 2005;Estroff et al, 1998;Estroff, Zimmer, Lachicotte, & Benoit, 1994;Heru et al, 2006;Post et al, 1980;Straznickas, McNiel, & Binder, 1993;Vaddadi et al, 1997;Walsh et al, 2010).…”

Static and Dynamic Predictors of General and Violent Criminal Offense Recidivism in the Forensic Outpatient Population: A Meta-Analysis

“…Compared with forensic outpatients, forensic inpatients have committed more severe violent offenses, often leading to physical injuries, and suffer more from major mental disorders such as psychotic and personality disorders (Ministry of Security and Justice, 2017). Although outpatients also suffer from personality disorders, the prevalence of psychotic disorders is much lower, while the incidence of impulse control and substance abuse disorders is much higher (Henrichs, Bogaerts, Sijtsema, & Klerx-van Mierlo, 2015; Spruit et al, 2017). This could explain why the recidivism rates reported in previous meta-analyses (in which the proportion of inpatients was relatively large) vary widely from 39% to 55.5% for general recidivism and 13.7% to 31.6% for violent recidivism, with the lowest recidivism percentages being found among general offenders and the highest among ethnic/racial minorities (Gutierrez et al, 2013; Olver et al, 2014).…”

Uncovering Naturalistic Rewards and their Subjective Value in Forensic Psychiatric Patients

“…Similarly, forensic patients in community settings often experience problems in psychosocial and occupational functioning (Feitsma, Popping, & Jansen, 2010;Henrichs, Bogaerts, Sijtsema, & Klerx-van Mierlo, 2014). In our samples, the rewards increasing eudaimonic well-being were rated as the most valuable, which suggests that forensic patients are willing to provide the effort required to achieve these goals.…”