Are Homicide Offenders Psychiatrically Different From Other Violent Offenders?

Many studies have found an increased prevalence of psychiatric illness among offenders of violent crimes. Few, if any, large-scale studies comparing the psychiatric aspects of homicide offenders to those of offenders of other violent crimes have been conducted in the last 10 years in South-East Asia. This study was conducted on individuals charged with murder or voluntarily causing hurt (VCH) in Singapore and who received a psychiatric assessment from 1997 to 2001. Analyses revealed significant differences in the rates of having a positive history of violence, alcohol and substance abuse/dependence, schizophrenia, depression and the presence of persecutory delusions. While not totally preventable, it is suggested that decreasing the rate of homicide may be achievable via the reduction of controllable factors found to be closely associated with murder, such as alcohol and substance abuse.