Characteristics of Schizophrenia Patients' Homicide Behaviors and Their Correlations with Criminal Capacity / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVES@#To explore the characteristics of schizophrenia patients' homicide behaviors and the influences of the assessments of criminal capacity.@*METHODS@#Indicators such as demographic and clinical data, characteristics of criminal behaviors and criminal capacity from the suspects whom were diagnosed by forensic psychiatry as schizophrenia （n=110） and normal mental （n=70） with homicide behavior, were collected by self-made investigation form and compared. The influences of the assessments of criminal capacity on the suspects diagnosed as schizophrenia were also analyzed using logistic regression analysis.@*RESULTS@#There were no significant statistical differences between the schizophrenic group and the normal mental group concerning age, gender, education and marital status （P>0.05）. There were significant statistical differences between the two groups concerning thought disorder, emotion state and social function before crime （P<0.05） and there were significant statistical differences in some characteristics of the case such as aggressive history （P<0.05）, cue, trigger, plan, criminal incentives, object of crime, circumstance cognition and self-protection （P<0.05）. Multivariate logistic regression analysis suggested that thought disorder, emotion state, social function, criminal incentives, plan and self-protection before crime of the schizophrenic group were positively correlated with the criminal capacity （P<0.05）.@*CONCLUSIONS@#The relevant influences of psychopathology and crime characteristics should be considered comprehensively for improving the accuracy of the criminal capacity evaluation on the suspects diagnosed as schizophrenia with homicide behavior.

Comparison of Criminal Characteristics in Depression Patients and Schizophrenics with Homicide Behavior / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVES@#To explore the criminal characteristics of forensic psychiatry expertise in depression patients and schizophrenics with homicide behavior.@*METHODS@#A total of 40 depression （depressive episode） patients and 50 schizophrenics with homicide behavior were randomly assigned into the study group and control group, respectively. Data of demographic and criminal characteristic of the two groups were collected by a self-designed questionnaire, and then were compared.@*RESULTS@#There were no statistical differences in age, education level and career between study and control groups （P>0.05）. Compared with the control group, the victims in the study group were mainly the patient's children and parents, and most offenders had suicidal behavior after homicide （70%）. In study group, the motives of crime were mainly extended suicide and indirect suicide, and most offenders had attempted suicide （85%） and diminished capacity of criminal responsibility （70%）, which in control group had no capacity of criminal responsibility （56%）. Except for criminal site, there were statistical differences in other criminal characteristics between two groups （P<0.05）.@*CONCLUSIONS@#There are different criminal characteristics between depression patients and schizophrenics with homicide behavior in forensic psychiatry, and these characteristics should be considered when these two diagnoses are distinguished in forensic psychiatry expertise.

The application of evaluation tools for criminal responsibility in forensic psychiatric expertise / 法医学杂志

Criminal responsibility is divided into three types: full criminal responsibility, diminished criminal responsibility and criminal irresponsibility in China. In forensic psychiatric expertise, doctors often have different opinions about the responsibility in a given case because of lacking objective criteria. The evaluation of criminal responsibility is always unresolved problem in forensic psychiatric expertise. Application of these evaluation tools in forensic psychiatric expertise were reviewed in this article. The value of the tools were still controversial in the reliability and validity, but it is clear that these tools have the positive roles in ensuring the standardization and the uniformity of the forensic investigation.