Neurocognitive dysfunction, while common among those with schizophrenia, is thought to be exacerbated in violent individuals with schizophrenia and contribute to the commission of violent acts. Few studies have compared performance on neurocognitive measures between violent and nonviolent schizophrenia samples. Better understanding neurocognitive dysfunction in violent individuals with schizophrenia could increase the efficacy of violence reduction strategies and aid in risk assessment and adjudication processes. The aim of the current study was to compare neuropsychological performance between 25 homicide offenders with schizophrenia and 25 nonviolent schizophrenia controls; 25 healthy controls were also included in the current study and served as a reference group for select analyses. The groups were matched for age, race, sex, and handedness. Independent t-tests and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to compare the schizophrenia groups’ performance on measures of cognition, including composite scores assessing domain level functioning and individual neuropsychological tests. Results indicated that the violent schizophrenia group was statistically significantly more likely to use cocaine than either comparison group; however, no other statistically significant differences were observed between the schizophrenia groups on demographic or substance use variables. Between group analyses revealed that the violent schizophrenia group performed worse on select measures of memory and executive functioning, and the Intellectual Functioning composite score, when compared to the nonviolent schizophrenia sample. These findings replicate previous research documenting neuropsychological deficits specific to violent individuals with schizophrenia and support research implicating fronto-limbic dysfunction among violent offenders with schizophrenia.

Last modified

• 01/28/2019

Creator

• John Stratton

DOI

• https://doi.org/10.21985/N2K104

Subject

• Clinical Psychology

Keyword

• Homicide
• Schizophrenia
• Violence
• Neuropsychology

Date created

• 2017-01-01

Resource type

• Dissertation

Rights statement

• In Copyright