Literature suggests a connection between brain dysfunction, particularly in the area of the limbic system, and violent behavior. This study investigates such an association by means of neuropsychological measurement, using the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery (LNNB). Forty-three male forensic psychiatric patients at St. Elizabeths Hospital, Washington, D.C., pre-screened to eliminate individuals with gross intellectual deficits, were assigned to violent or non-violent groups on the basis of their arrest and conviction history. Individuals in the violent group had at least three arrests or one conviction (including having been found not guilty by reason of insanity) for a violent crime, and those in the non-violent group had no convictions for violent crimes and no more than two arrests for violent offenses. Crimes represented by the violent sample included assault, murder, sexual assault, and armed robbery. / The LNNB was adminstered to subjects by examiners who remained blind to their group membership. Demographic comparisons revealed no significant differences between the groups with respect to age, intelligence, education, race, socioeconomic status, handedness, psychiatric diagnosis, medication intake, or chronicity of psychiatric problems. / The violent subjects had significantly more LNNB scales exceeding the critical level than did the non-violent subjects. Although the usual criterion of impairment did not differentiate the groups, a higher and more stringent cutoff showed more violent individuals with serious impairment. Findings in terms of localization of dysfunction did not reflect the expected limbic system pattern. Exploratory analyses suggested that primary dysfunction of the impaired violent group centered around the parietal-occipital area of the left hemisphere, and was consistent with the profile of an adult who had been learning disabled as a child. Limitations on generalizeability existed due to the select nature of the population studied. Caution must be exercised when interpreting these data since they were obtained from a largely black sample, whereas the LNNB was validated among whites. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-03, Section: B, page: 0917. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_75090 |
| Contributors | LEA, BARBARA WEST., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 96 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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