ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Page Count: 5

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Murderers
Harry, B
Assistant professor of psychiatry and adjunct assistant professor of law, University of Missouri Health Sciences Center, MO

Resnick, PJ
Associate professor of psychiatry and director, Division of Forensic Psychiatry, Case Western Reserve University Medical School, OH

(Received 30 April 1985; accepted 18 July 1985)

Abstract

Three case histories of men who suffered posttraumatic stress disorders after committing homicides are presented. These men were relatively young and had chaotic childhoods and minimal criminal histories. Each had killed a woman with whom he had a significant but intensely turbulent emotional relationship. The killings all occurred during altered mental states that were unrelated to the use of drugs or alcohol. The clinical significance and some of the medicolegal implications of this phenomenon are discussed.

Keywords:
psychiatry, posttraumatic reaction, homicide

Paper ID: JFS12293J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS12293J
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