Gender-Dependent Characteristics of Bipolar Patients in the National Forensic Psychiatric Hospital / 대한법의학회지

Forty patients (20 male and 20 female) diagnosed with bipolar disorder voluntarily participated in this study. For each patient, questionnaire and computerized objective data, obtained from involved doctors, nurses, psychologists, prosecutors, and the hospital information system, were collected after receiving the patients'written consent. When a patient's answers diverged greatly from computerized data (i.e., onset age, history of criminal prosecution and re-hospitalization), computerized data were given priority. Immediately after the authors collected the questionnaires, any personal identifying information was replaced by random numbers to prevent bias and protect privacy. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 20.0 for MS Windows. Comparative items on questionnaires were evaluated by paired t test and chi square test. Male patients were found to have a higher recidivism rate than female patients (P<0.05). Female patients reported more trauma history (P<0.05), bipolar type II diagnoses (P<0.05), and suicide attempts (P<0.01) than male patients. There was no statistically significant difference between male and female patients for Intelligence Quotient (IQ) or for 13 of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) subscales.

The Preliminary Research for Making Judgment on Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity and Guilty but Mentally Ill / 대한법의학회지

BACK GROUND: Our object is to conduct a questionnaire research with psychiatrists who have the experience of mental examination to suggest judgment standard for Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity and Guilty But Mentally Ill(diminished capacity). In addition, this study is expected to reduce the gap between the judgments on Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity and Guilty But Mentally Ill. METHODS: In making judgment on Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity and Guilty But Mentally Ill by experts, the questionnaire research is conducted through e-mail on the judgment standard on each mental disorders. According to the definition of mental disability, the item that shows higher percentage than the items of cognitional ability and volitional ability is considered as the requirement for judging mental disability. RESULTS: In all of 7 major mental disorders and disease groups, the symptoms and characteristics of the disease and the range of the influence of the symptom on the case were higher in 2-4 times than the induced standard (cognitional ability and volitional ability) from the legal and academic definitions of mental disability. CONCLUSIONS: The criteria for judging normal or mental disability is the cognitional ability and volitional ability. The criteria for judging Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity and Guilty But Mentally Ill in mental disability is the symptom and characteristics of the disease and the range of the influence of the symptom on the case.

Effect of Sex Offenders Treatment Programme on Cognitive and Emotional Characteristics of Mentally Ill Sex-Offenders / 신경정신의학

OBJECTIVES: This study was investigated to prove the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavior Treatment Program in mentally ill sex offenders and to be used as basic data for development of optimized treatment program for mentally ill sex offenders. METHODS: Cognitive Behavior Treatment Program was carried out over 10 weeks for 30 mentally ill sex offenders. With Interpersonal Responsiveness Index (IRI), UCLA Loneliness Scale (UCLALS), Coping Using Sex Inventory (CUSI) and Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (RMAS), the effectiveness of the treatment programme was evaluated. The data was analyzed with paired t-test. RESULTS: The results with 23 subjects showed no significant score changes after treatment program in IRI and UCLALS. However, there was a statistically significant improvement in the scores of CUSI and RMAS. CONCLUSION: Despite several limitations, this study showed significant effects of Cognitive Behavior Treatment Program on mentally-ill sex offenders. Therefore, treatment focused on the changes of cognitive and emotional characteristics of sex offenders along with the treatment for main psychiatric illness should be provided for mentally ill sex offenders to prevent recidivism. More studies to develope optimized treatment programme for mentally ill sex offenders are needed in the future.