Results
The final sample thus consisted of 28 female patients accused of
criminal offenses involving violent behavior. All the patients agreed to
participate in the study. Table 1 shows the sample’s sociodemographic
data. The most common psychiatric diagnosis was schizophrenia (n=13;
46%) (Table 2). Table 2 also lists other clinical variables such as
history of psychiatric follow-up, use of psychoactive medication, or
alcohol or psychoactive substance user prior to the offense. Homicide or
attempted homicide (n=14; 50%) was the most common type of violent
behavior (Table 2). Homicide per se had been committed by 11 patients
(39%), with the following diagnoses: schizophrenia/schizoaffective
disorder (n=5), mental retardation (n=2), bipolar disorder (n=1),
borderline personality disorder (n=1), epilepsy (n=1), and no mental
disorder (n=1). The latter patient was admitted by court order (accused
of murdering her husband), although she did not present any mental
disorder.
Nearly half of the victims (n=14; 47%) were family members of the
patients. The principal means for perpetrating the act were cold steel
weapons (n=9; 32%). Some 21% (n=6) of the patients had a prior history
of aggressive behavior. As for criminal responsibility for the act, the
majority of the patients (n=24; 86%) were considered not responsible on
grounds of insanity.
According to the initial forensic psychiatric assessment (Forensic
Mental Health Report), 14 patients (50%) out of the total sample (n=28)
presented psychotic symptoms at the time of the assessment. The most
common psychotic symptoms were auditory hallucinations (n=8 cases) and
persecutory delusions (n=6 cases). One patient also presented
disorganized thinking. Of the two patients with epilepsy, one presented
psychotic disorder and the other mood disorder resulting from their
clinical condition.
Five (18%) of the 28 patients had committed filicide or attempted
filicide (killing or attempting to kill their own children). Three
presented diagnosis of schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder, one
mental retardation, and another borderline personality disorder. Seven
children in all had suffered such aggression, and one patient had tried
to kill her three children by throwing them into a river (all three
survived). Two of the seven children died. The children’s age ranged
from one to seven years. Both of the children that died were one to two
years old. Five of the children were boys and two were girls. As for the
method used, three children suffered attempted drowning, one was struck
on the head with a blunt object, one was burned, one was poisoned, and
one was thrown off the high floor of a building. The latter two died. In
all the cases, the patients were the children’s principal caregivers.
Only one case involved a history of the child’s prior physical abuse.
The two women convicted of killing their children had a history of prior
suicide attempts and alcohol abuse.