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Biomedical subjects

M Benezech

Publications and source records attributed to M Benezech.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1986

Recidivism of the criminally insane in France: a 22-year follow-up.

Characteristics of 1096 recidivistic mentally ill criminal offenders admitted to a specialized hospital in France are described. All subjects were mentally ill and had been judged nonresponsible for an act of crime. Crimes against persons (murder or assault) accounted for 42% of the crimes for which these patients were admitted. The remaining causes of admission were crimes against property (theft) and "victimless" crimes. Subject files indicated a wide difference in cause of admission for violent acts among the different diagnostic categories. Although the frequency of readmission and violent acts at readmission did not change for the group as a whole, they did change between admissions for the different diagnostic groups. Results indicate that differences exist between diagnostic categories of mentally ill offenders in terms of not only the type of crime committed but also the likelihood of recidivism.

Commitment of Persons with Psychiatric Disorders↗
PubMed1984

Homicide by psychotics in France: a five-year study.

Records were reviewed for all psychotics who had been found not responsible for a homicide and admitted to a French state hospital for the criminally insane over a 5-year period (N = 109). Subjects were diagnosed primarily as schizophrenic (N = 64) or paranoid (N = 37). Paranoids were more likely than schizophrenics to have killed a relative or friend rather than a stranger or another mental patient (p less than .05), whereas schizophrenics were more likely than paranoids to have killed a parent than another relative or a friend (p less than .01). Homicide by schizophrenics commonly involved enmeshed parental relationships of delusional proportions; themes of jealously and megalomania predominated in homicides by paranoids.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Arson in mentally ill and criminal populations.

Two groups of adult arsonists, 27 with mental illness and 23 not considered to be mentally ill, were examined for demographic features, premorbid factors, motives, and family background. Almost half (46%) of the mentally ill arsonists were mentally retarded. A large proportion of the not-mentally-ill group committed arson as a "crime of passion," 33% of which occurred under the influence of alcohol. Both groups reported a high proportion of absent fathers and seriously disturbed family relations. The relationship of these acts to sexual impulses was found to be minimal, a finding that contrasts with case report studies.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Criminal acts among schizophrenics in French mental hospitals.

This paper reports a questionnaire study of 116 schizophrenic subjects. A group without history of crime (N = 53) was found to have considerably better relations with their families than a group with histories of criminal acts (N = 63). An interesting finding was that negative relations with the father were reported more frequently in the noncriminal group than in the criminal group, whereas negative relations with the mother were more frequent in the criminal group than in the noncriminal group. Within the criminal group several differences were found between the criminal behavior of chronic undifferentiated and paranoid schizophrenics. Although subjects of both diagnoses often acted with premeditation, paranoid schizophrenics were more likely to commit crimes against persons, to be under the influence of their illness during the crime, to be secretive about plans, to admit their guilt, and to cite vengeance as a motive than chronic undifferentiated schizophrenic subjects.

Antisocial Personality Disorder↗
PubMed1981

[Biological and medical genesis of crime (author's transl)].

The author underlines the variability of crime in time and cultures. This makes it difficult to correlate simply organic factors and criminal behavior. Historical and classical theories in bio-medical genesis of crime are reminded, specially anthropological and typomorphological studies. Then are reviewed modern studies on hereditary factors and chromosomal abnormalities and also ethology and neurophysiology in aggressivity. The main neuropsychiatric factors are listed: mental illnesses, epilepsy, automatical behavior during sleep, alcoholism, drug addiction. Finally, the author emphasizes the multiple determinism in criminal behavior and the continuous relationship between environment and the central nervous system.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Violence in the mentally Ill.. A study of 547 patients at a French hospital for the criminally Insane.

This is a study of 547 patients hospitalized in a French hospital for the criminally insane over the past 10 years. This chart review study correlates diagnosis with criminal act and other psychological and sociological parameters. It is of note that the diagnosis of paranoia is strongly associated with violent crimes against persons, especially murder, whereas personality disorders are more associated with criminal acts involving property.

France↗
PubMed1980

Serotoninergic dysfunction in the 47, XYY syndrome.

In six XYY patients suffering from aggressiveness and admitted by order of law into a security setting for acts of violence, the estimation of cerebrospinal fluid amine metabolites before and after a probenecid test revealed a clear decrease in the turnover of central serotonin (5-HT) while that of dopamine (DA) was unchanged. The treatment with the 5-HT precursor, L-5-hydroxytryptophan (L-5-HTP), in five of the XYYs resulted in a clinical status equivalent to that observed when the patients were previously treated by conventional neuroleptics.

5-Hydroxytryptophan↗