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BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL AND FORENSIC CLINICAL CORRELATES OF SCHIZOPHRENIA AND HOMICIDE
by
Robert August Schug
_________________________________________________________________
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(PSYCHOLOGY)
August 2009
Copyright 2009 Robert August Schug
Object Description
| Title | Biopsychosocial and forensic clinical correlates of schizophrenia and homicide |
| Author | Schug, Robert August |
| Author email | schug@usc.edu; robertschug@hotmail.com |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Psychology |
| School | College of Letters, Arts and Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2009-04-27 |
| Date submitted | 2009 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2009-06-14 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Raine, Adrian |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Baker, Laura Dawson, Michael Trickett, Penelope |
| Abstract | The present study sought to examine a subtype of homicidal schizophrenic individuals, and to elucidate biological and psychosocial differences between these schizophrenic murderers and their non-schizophrenic and non-murdering counterparts. Participants were recruited from a medical university brain hospital in Nanjing, China, and grouped according to psychiatric diagnosis and homicide conviction: normal controls (n = 47), schizophrenic non-murderers (n = 33), non-schizophrenic murderers (n = 31), schizophrenic murderers (n = 32), and homicide psychiatric controls (n = 14). All were assessed in areas of intellectual and executive functioning, resting EEG, current psychosocial functioning and childhood psychosocial deprivation, and forensic clinical homicide factors. Results indicated that schizophrenic murderers—along with all other schizophrenia and homicide groups -- demonstrated reduced Verbal, Performance, and IQ performance relative to normal controls, while some evidence for increased executive functioning in schizophrenic murderers compared to schizophrenic non-murderers and non-schizophrenic murderers was suggested. Also, while schizophrenic non-murderers were characterized by increased diffuse slow-wave EEG activity compared to all other groups, schizophrenic murderers were not and instead demonstrated increased left-hemispheric fast-wave activity relative to schizophrenic non-murderers. Additionally, group differences in current psychosocial functioning were also detected, and schizophrenic murderers reported abnormally elevated levels of childhood psychosocial deprivation; and were characterized by higher birth order than non-schizophrenic and non-murderer counterparts. Furthermore, the homicides of schizophrenic murderers appeared distinct from other types of murderers in various motivational, behavioral, and emotional aspects.; Results are discussed within the framework of a proposed biopsychosocial interactional trajectory toward violence in schizophrenia -- perhaps stemming from paternal germ line mutations, and involving left hemispheric hyperarousal deficits in interactions with early psychosocial deprivation and specific psychosocial stressors -- which may lead to a homicidally violent schizophrenic outcome. Ultimately, results suggest further evidence for a biopsychosocially distinct subgroup of schizophrenic murderers, which could have implications in research, treatment, forensic applications, and social perception. |
| Keyword | schizophrenia; homicide; EEG; neuropsychology; forensic psychology |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m2296 |
| Rights | Schug, Robert August |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | http://www.usc.edu/isd/libraries/services/ask_a_librarian/email/ |
| Filename | etd-Schug-2973 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume55/etd-Schug-2973.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Full text | BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL AND FORENSIC CLINICAL CORRELATES OF SCHIZOPHRENIA AND HOMICIDE by Robert August Schug _________________________________________________________________ A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (PSYCHOLOGY) August 2009 Copyright 2009 Robert August Schug |
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