Offender Characteristics: A Study of 23 Violent Offenders in Sweden

Twenty-three offenders convicted of homicide or attempted murder/manslaughter, and their respective crimes, were examined to identify any common characteristics. Court documents were assessed, and the most prominent information of the offenders was that they were often single, most of them had no psychiatric diagnoses, the most frequent modus operandi was a knife or sharp weapon (although firearms resulted in more homicides), and the most common homicide typology was domestic disputes, and disputes between friends or acquaintances. Based on a cluster analysis, two profiles emerged: one with so-called traditional criminals and another profile over-represented with offenders who commit domestic crimes.     

Substance use among Iranian psychiatric inpatients.

This study evaluated substance use among a sample of 205 psychiatric inpatients (70 women and 135 men) chosen randomly. The subjects (who had schizophrenia or mood disorders) were evaluated on a confidential questionnaire by interview. Their mean age was 35 yr. (SD= 10.4, range 16 to 69). Of these participants, 76% of the 135 men and 34% of the 70 women admitted use of substances: cigarettes (74% of men, 31.4% of women), opiates (31.9% of men, 4.3% of women), alcohol (23.7% of men, 4.3% of women), hashish (8.9% of men, no women), marijuana (3.7% of men, no women), and cocaine or LSD by none. Only 27% of the women and 63% of the men reported still using substances regularly; some reported using more than one substance. Of the current users, 61.8% of the schizophrenics, 20% of unipolar depressed, and 37.5% of bipolar patients reported current use. The reasons for substance use in order of frequencies of mention were release of tension, seeking pleasure, and need (to avoid withdrawal symptoms) by men and habit, seeking pleasure, and need by women.