ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Published Online: 1 July 1986
Page Count: 6

A Diagnostic Study of the Criminal Alias
Harry, B
Assistant professor of psychiatry, adjunct assistant professor of law, University of Missouri—Columbia, MO

(Received 7 September 1985; accepted 7 November 1985)

Abstract

The author found that 64 (30.9%) of 207 incarcerated male offenders had been officially recognized as having changed their names at some time. The most common ways in which their names were modified included changing the middle name or initial, changing the spelling of one name, or completely changing all three names. These alias users were older property offenders who had more prior arrests, less education, more tattoos, more prior psychiatric contact, and were more often alcoholics than alias nonusers. While these findings are consistent with intentional deception, they also suggest that criminal alias users may have a pathological self concept.

Keywords:
psychiatry, criminal aliases, surveys

Paper ID: JFS11111J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS11111J
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