Heidi Selenius

Assessment of dyslexia in a group of male offenders with immigrant backgrounds undergoing a forensic psychiatric investigation

Abstract It is known that offenders with immigrant backgrounds are over-represented in criminal as well as forensic psychiatric populations and that the prevalence of dyslexia among prisoners with Swedish as a native language is much higher than in the general population in Sweden. The aim of this study was to diagnose dyslexia in a sample of 23 male offenders with immigrant backgrounds undergoing a forensic psychiatric investigation with the objective to discuss the appropriateness of a commonly used assessment procedure in accordance with DSM-IV. Dyslexia was diagnosed individually; the participants took reading and writing tests, as well as intelligence and neuropsychological tests. Nine out of 23 participants (39%) were diagnosed as having dyslexia. Thus, dyslexia seems to be common among male offenders with immigrant backgrounds undergoing FPI, and for that reason it is important to investigate their reading and writing abilities. Dyslexia is regarded as a functional impairment in Sweden, and therefore all offenders with dyslexia undergoing a forensic psychiatric investigation, irrespective of their background, should receive help with the legal procedure, for example their crime files and police investigation documents should be read to them. We conclude that in addition to the criteria in DSM-IV the assessment procedure should be extended with phonological tests.

Children as Witnesses to Homicidal Violence: What They Remember and Report

The present study investigated how 96 children who have witnessed homicidal violence remember and report their experiences. The aims of the study were to describe the childrens reporting pattern and to investigate background factors that could affect the childrens reporting. Police interviews with the children were analysed regarding the amount and type of information reported, as well as frequency of denial, withholding and claims of memory loss. Results showed that the majority of children provided detailed reports about the homicidal violence they had witnessed, including critical details about the abuse. Results also revealed that the childs relationship to the perpetrator or the victim did not affect the childrens reporting pattern, indicating that the childrens willingness to report exceeds strong impact factors such as loyalty conflicts. These findings are applicable in different legal contexts dealing with child witnesses and can be used as guidance when interviewing children and evaluating their testimony.

Risk Factors for Intimate Partner Violence A Comparison of Antisocial and Family-Only Perpetrators

Subtyping male perpetrators of intimate partner violence (IPV) based on their generality of violence could facilitate the difficult task of matching perpetrator subtype with efficient risk management strategies. As such, the aim of the present study was to compare antisocial and family-only male perpetrators of interpersonal violence in terms of (a) demographic and legal characteristics, (b) risk factors for violence, and (c) assessed risk and the importance of specific risk factors for violence. A quantitative design was used in this retrospective register study on data obtained from the Swedish police. Risk assessments performed with the Swedish version of the Brief Spousal Assault Form for the Evaluation of Risk (B-SAFER) and police registers were used. A sample of 657 male alleged IPV perpetrators were classified as antisocial (n = 341) or family-only (n = 316) based on their generality of violence. The results showed that the antisocial perpetrators were significantly younger, as well as more psychologically abusive. Antisocial perpetrators also had significantly more present risk factors for IPV, and were assessed with a significantly higher risk for acute and severe or deadly IPV, compared with the family-only perpetrators. The subtypes also evidenced unique risk factors with a significant impact on elevated risk for acute and severe or deadly such violence. Key findings in the present study concerned the subtypes evidencing unique risk factors increasing the risk for acute and severe or deadly IPV. Major implications of this study include the findings of such unique “red flag” risk factors for each subtype. To prevent future IPV, it is vital for the risk assessor to be aware of these red flags when making decisions about risk, as well as risk management strategies.

Memory performance in dyslexic male juvenile delinquents convicted of severe offences does not differ from that in dyslexic male junior college students

Background: There are different research approaches regarding the causes and possible overrepresentation of dyslexia in criminals. One approach focuses on sociological explanations such as under-stimulation at home, while another focuses on the importance of cognitive neurobiological dysfunctions. In several studies, poor memory for digits and poor verbal learning ability have been found in non-criminal dyslexics. Aim: To compare memory performance in two groups of dyslexics, namely, juvenile delinquents and junior college students, in order to discuss their dyslexic problems in the light of sociocultural and cognitive neurobiological approaches. Participants: Two groups of male adolescent dyslexics: 11 juvenile delinquents (mean age 18.55 years, SD = 2.07), all of them convicted for severe offences, and 11 junior college students (mean age 17.09 years, SD = 0.83). Results: Matched-samples t-tests indicate that there is no difference in memory performance between the two different groups of dyslexics, which supports the accuracy of the diagnoses of dyslexia in the group of juvenile delinquents. Conclusions: The present results show that the memory performance of dyslexic juvenile delinquents does not differ from that of dyslexic junior college students. A sociocultural approach, therefore, cannot plausibly explain the high prevalence of reading and writing difficulties among juvenile delinquents.

Children's reporting patterns after witnessing homicidal violence - the effect of repeated experience and repeated interviews

For both legal and clinical purposes, it is of importance to study childrens memories and reports of stressful events. The present study investigated the reporting patterns of 83 children who had witnessed homicidal violence, which is considered to be a highly stressful experience. More specifically, we explored the possible effects of prior violence exposure and of repeated questioning on the amount of details reported. Results showed that the majority of children provided detailed reports about the homicidal violence they had witnessed, including details concerning what happened before, during, and after the violent act. The children provided detailed and vivid testimonies from their experiences, whether they witnessed the event for the first time or had prior experience of witnessing severe violence against the victim by the perpetrator. Children with no prior experience of repeated violence who underwent repeated interviews provided more details than those interviewed once. The present data indicate that children are competent witnesses when questioned in legal contexts after having been exposed to extremely stressful events. These findings have implications for research related to childrens memories and reporting of traumatic experiences, as well as practical implications for future treatment and evaluation of childrens testimonies.

Dyslexia Prevalence in Forensic Psychiatric Patients: Dependence on Criteria and Background Factors

Research on dyslexia in forensic psychiatric patients is limited, and therefore one aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of dyslexia in a sample of forensic psychiatric patients by using different criteria. Another aim was to investigate how phonological-processing skills in these patients might be related to disadvantageous background factors and poor reading habits. Forensic psychiatric patients performed reading, writing and intelligence tests, as well as a battery of phonological processing tasks. They were also interviewed about reading habits and literacy conditions in their childhood homes. Data regarding the patients’ dyslexia diagnoses and backgrounds were collected from forensic psychiatric investigations and patient records. The results showed that 11–53% of the patients met the discrepancy criteria for dyslexia, whereas 50% fulfilled the phonological core deficit criterion. Neither disadvantageous background factors nor reading habits were related to phonological-processing skills.

Experiences of self-injury and aggression among women admitted to forensic psychiatric care

Abstract Background: Self-injury and institutional violence are well-known characteristics of female forensic psychiatric patients, but research on patients’ experiences of these behaviours is limited. Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate how female forensic psychiatric patients describe their self-injury and aggression. Methods: The authors performed qualitative in-depth interviews with 13 female forensic psychiatric inpatients. The interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. Results: The analysis resulted in three themes describing the process of handling negative thoughts and emotions by using self-injury or aggression towards others and thereby experiencing satisfaction. Both self-injury and aggression were experienced as strategies for emotional regulation. The forensic psychiatric care was perceived as important for the women in developing less harmful strategies for coping with negative thoughts and emotions instead of injuring themselves or others. Conclusions: Self-injury and aggression are often risk-assessed separately, but results from the present study suggest that these behaviours need a more holistic approach.

Self-harm as a risk factor for inpatient aggression among women admitted to forensic psychiatric care

Abstract Background: Inpatient aggression among female forensic psychiatric patients has been shown to be associated with self-harm, that is considered to be a historical risk factor for violence. Research on associations between previous or current self-harm and different types of inpatient aggression is missing. Aim: The aim of this register study was to investigate the prevalence of self-harm and the type of inpatient aggression among female forensic psychiatric inpatients, and to study whether the patients’ self-harm before and/or during forensic psychiatric care is a risk factor for inpatient aggression. Methods: Female forensic psychiatric patients (n = 130) from a high security hospital were included. Results: The results showed that 88% of the female patients had self-harmed at least once during their life and 57% had been physically and/or verbally aggressive towards staff or other patients while in care at the hospital. Self-harm before admission to the current forensic psychiatric care or repeated self-harm were not significantly associated with inpatient aggression, whereas self-harm during care was significantly associated with physical and verbal aggression directed at staff. Conclusions: These results pointed towards self-harm being a dynamic risk factor rather than a historical risk factor for inpatient aggression among female forensic psychiatric patients. Whether self-harm is an individual risk factor or a part of the clinical risk factor ‘Symptom of major mental illness’ within the HCR-20V3 must be further explored among women. Thus, addressing self-harm committed by female patients during forensic psychiatric care seems to be important in risk assessments and the management of violence, especially in reducing violence against staff in high-security forensic psychiatric services.

Superficiality in forensic psychiatric patients is related to superior phonological, semantic and syntactic skills

Abstract Background: Psychopaths are reported to have unusual language processing, and they have been suggested to have better phonological awareness than do non-psychopaths. Phonological processing skills have not been studied among psychopathic persons, and it is unclear how the degree of psychopathy is related to such skills. Aims: One aim of the present study was to investigate this relationship. An additional aim was to investigate how affective-interpersonal traits and antisocial lifestyle of psychopaths are related to verbal skills such as reading and spelling, as well as to phonological processing skills. Material and methods: Forty (80% male) forensic psychiatric patients participated. They were all Swedish speaking and their mean age was 36 years. The patients performed reading and spelling tests as well as a battery of tasks assessing phonological processing. The patients were also assessed using the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV). Results: The patients’ scores on Factor 1 (affective and interpersonal traits) of the PCL:SV were significantly positively correlated with results on decoding of sentences and reading speed tests as well as with phonological processing skills. However, the only item that was significantly related to phonological processing skills as well as semantic and syntactic skills was Superficial. Conclusions: In general, psychopaths easily shift conversational topics, and it may be due to a certain cognitive skill such as rapid automatized naming. We suggest that further studies focus on rapid automatized naming in psychopaths to clarify whether their superficial character might be related to rapid naming.