ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Page Count: 15

Psychobiology of the Violent Offender
Convit, A
Director of research, Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center, Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, NY

Martell, D
Forensic research scientist, Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center, Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, NY

Volavka, J
Chief, Clinical Research Division, Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, NY

(Received 11 March 1991; accepted 19 April 1991)

Abstract

The antecedents of violent crime may include childhood victimization, head injuries, and alcohol and drug abuse. Neuropsychological and neuropsychiatric findings suggest temporal and frontal lobe dysfunctions in violent offenders; these dysfunctions appear to be more pronounced in the dominant hemisphere. Recent studies implicate disturbances of central serotonergic functions in impulsive homicide and arson. These results provide an adequate rationale for larger interdisciplinary studies using neurochemical, neuropsychiatric/neuropsychological, and psychosocial methods on the same subjects.

Keywords:
psychiatry, violence, neurobiology, human behavior

Paper ID: JFS13231J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS13231J
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