Patterns of Substance Abuse in Offenders With Schizophrenia— Illness-Related or Criminal Life-Style?
Objective: The impact of substance abuse on violent behavior in patients suffering from schizophrenia is well-known. However, the association between the pattern of substance abuse and certain aspects of criminal behavior like the severity of offense, the previous history of violence and the age at...
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2018-06-01
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doaj-d891dd0164d54c2c8165ee66a379867c2020-11-24T22:39:29ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychiatry1664-06402018-06-01910.3389/fpsyt.2018.00233380678Patterns of Substance Abuse in Offenders With Schizophrenia— Illness-Related or Criminal Life-Style?Thomas Stompe0Thomas Stompe1Kristina Ritter2Hans Schanda3Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaJustizanstalt Göllersdorf, Göllersdorf, AustriaInstitut für Suchtdiagnostik Wien, Vienna, AustriaDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaObjective: The impact of substance abuse on violent behavior in patients suffering from schizophrenia is well-known. However, the association between the pattern of substance abuse and certain aspects of criminal behavior like the severity of offense, the previous history of violence and the age at onset of the criminal career is still unclear.Method: To assess the relationship between substance abuse, schizophrenia and violent behavior we examined healthy non-offenders; healthy offenders; non-offenders suffering from schizophrenia; and offenders suffering from schizophrenia, with respect to different patterns of substance abuse (none, alcohol only, illicit drugs only, and multiple substances).Results: Healthy offenders as well as offenders and non-offenders suffering from schizophrenia are characterized by increased rates of alcohol and illicit drug abuse. Especially multiple substance abuse appears to lower the threshold of aggression and illegal behavior. This effect is more pronounced in subjects suffering from schizophrenia. In both offender groups the abuse of psychoactive substances is associated with an earlier onset of the criminal career, but has no impact on the severity of the offenses.Conclusion: Our results point to the need for a differentiated view on the contribution of substance abuse to the criminality of subjects suffering from schizophrenia.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00233/fullschizophreniasubstance abusealcoholillicit drugscriminal behaviorviolence |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Thomas Stompe Thomas Stompe Kristina Ritter Hans Schanda |
spellingShingle |
Thomas Stompe Thomas Stompe Kristina Ritter Hans Schanda Patterns of Substance Abuse in Offenders With Schizophrenia— Illness-Related or Criminal Life-Style? Frontiers in Psychiatry schizophrenia substance abuse alcohol illicit drugs criminal behavior violence |
author_facet |
Thomas Stompe Thomas Stompe Kristina Ritter Hans Schanda |
author_sort |
Thomas Stompe |
title |
Patterns of Substance Abuse in Offenders With Schizophrenia— Illness-Related or Criminal Life-Style? |
title_short |
Patterns of Substance Abuse in Offenders With Schizophrenia— Illness-Related or Criminal Life-Style? |
title_full |
Patterns of Substance Abuse in Offenders With Schizophrenia— Illness-Related or Criminal Life-Style? |
title_fullStr |
Patterns of Substance Abuse in Offenders With Schizophrenia— Illness-Related or Criminal Life-Style? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Patterns of Substance Abuse in Offenders With Schizophrenia— Illness-Related or Criminal Life-Style? |
title_sort |
patterns of substance abuse in offenders with schizophrenia— illness-related or criminal life-style? |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Psychiatry |
issn |
1664-0640 |
publishDate |
2018-06-01 |
description |
Objective: The impact of substance abuse on violent behavior in patients suffering from schizophrenia is well-known. However, the association between the pattern of substance abuse and certain aspects of criminal behavior like the severity of offense, the previous history of violence and the age at onset of the criminal career is still unclear.Method: To assess the relationship between substance abuse, schizophrenia and violent behavior we examined healthy non-offenders; healthy offenders; non-offenders suffering from schizophrenia; and offenders suffering from schizophrenia, with respect to different patterns of substance abuse (none, alcohol only, illicit drugs only, and multiple substances).Results: Healthy offenders as well as offenders and non-offenders suffering from schizophrenia are characterized by increased rates of alcohol and illicit drug abuse. Especially multiple substance abuse appears to lower the threshold of aggression and illegal behavior. This effect is more pronounced in subjects suffering from schizophrenia. In both offender groups the abuse of psychoactive substances is associated with an earlier onset of the criminal career, but has no impact on the severity of the offenses.Conclusion: Our results point to the need for a differentiated view on the contribution of substance abuse to the criminality of subjects suffering from schizophrenia. |
topic |
schizophrenia substance abuse alcohol illicit drugs criminal behavior violence |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00233/full |
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