Schizophrenia And Criminal Activity I The Neuroscience of Personality This particular article is an excerpt from the book Handbook

of Personality, which thoroughly explores the theoretical foundations of the personality while outlining the study thereof. While a great deal of information is presented in relation to personality, that which is most relevant is that of neuroscience and the relation to personality, in that it deals specifically with schizophrenia and the implications thereof. Schizophrenia has the capacity to significantly influence the personality of an individual as well as their behavior as a result of its physiological underpinnings. As will be explored in depth herein, schizophrenia influences the capacity of an individual to process information, making their personality as well as their behavior relatively unpredictable and erratic. Exploration into the physiological elements of personality would provide a valuable benchmark upon which to consider the variations experienced within the brains of those with schizophrenia. Through the expression of schizophrenia, ones personality is impacted in quite a significant manner. II Can Neurological Evidence Help Courts Assess Criminal Responsibility? Lessons from Law and Neuroscience The article explores the relationship between the physiological components of schizophrenia and conditions that influence criminal activity and guilt. It is important to take into account those factors of criminality that cannot be controlled. Socio-economic status is something that an individual is born into, however the element of individual choice and personal development enables individuals to overcome their surroundings. However, when there are conditions within ones mind that significantly impacts their

behavior, particularly in regards to criminality, their level of guilt must be considered given the lack of control over ones physiological conditions at birth. The concept of criminal culpability regardless of the offense is something that is quite questionable for those with a condition such as schizophrenia. Conviction of criminal activity for those with schizophrenia is relatively broad across the criminal spectrum, and as will be discussed an increased prevalence for violence. III Criminal Offending in Schizophrenia Over a 25-Year Period Marked by Deinstitutionalization and Increasing Prevalence of Comorbid Substance Use Disorders This noteworthy article would provide comprehensive data regarding the criminality of those with schizophrenia, information that must be comprehensively understood to frame the neurological element and theoretical perspectives explored herein. Those individuals who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia were examined in regards to their pattern of criminal convictions over a period of twenty-five years. These periods would be characterized by both radical deinstitutionalization as well as increasing rates of substance abuse. The study would encompass the criminal records of 2,861 patients, 1,689 males, who had a first admission for schizophrenia within the Australian state of Victoria in the years 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, and 1995 compared for the period from 1975 to 2000 with the criminal records of an equivalent number of community subjects. These subjects were matched for age, gender, and their neighborhood of residence. (Wallace et. al., 2004) The study population was quite significant in size, with the community control group having been chosen with careful consideration as to their demographic of origin.

The study was significant in that it would present a positive correlation between criminal actions and a diagnosis of schizophrenia. In relation to the comparison subjects, those with schizophrenia would accumulate a significantly higher number of criminal convictions, being convicted of 8,791 crimes in comparison to just 1,119. This is quite an explicit contrast between the differing populations, representing nearly an eight-fold rate of criminal behavior. Those individuals with schizophrenia were likewise more likely to have been convicted of a crime, coming in at 21.6% in comparison to the comparison subjects 7.8%. The likelihood of being a violent offender was also higher for schizophrenic patients, with 8.2% versus 1.8% again representing quite a difference. Within the patients the rates of substance abuse were also much higher for those with schizophrenia, increasing from 8.3% in 1975 to 26.1% for the 1995 population. Within the schizophrenic population, those who abused substances would have a 68.1% criminal conviction rate while those who had not would have a rate of 11.7%. (Wallace et. al., 2004) These numbers are quite significant in relation to the issue of schizophrenia and criminal behavior, as well as the correlation with substance abuse. The study would provide a significant amount of data in relation to criminal activity and schizophrenia. The duration of the study was likewise of importance, in that it presenting information pertaining the rates of change within the populations considered. The rate of increased criminal activity between the community group and the schizophrenic patients was relatively similar, eliminating any correlation there. The rate of crime amongst those with schizophrenia however provided clear support criminal activity is more prevalent within this population. The study would consider and ultimately decide to not support those theories that advance there to be single factors that influence criminal activity amongst

schizophrenics, such as substance abuse, active symptoms, characteristics of systems of care, and others elements, as such behavior is due to a wide range of activities. The study underlines the importance of further exploring substance abuse behavior within schizophrenics, and also to study how the varying underlying interplaying characteristics come together to support criminality. (Wallace et. al., 2004) It is clear that schizophrenics are more criminally inclined than the general population, with the reasoning behind this being quite complex. IV Community Care and Criminal Offending in Schizophrenia There has been a shift within the mental health community in a number of locations in regards to how patients are processed. As opposed to being institutionalized, as was once the past practice with many schizophrenics, community care has become a more common practice. The study would establish patterns of offending from criminal records in two groups of patients with schizophrenia over their lifetime to date, as well as in the 10 years following their 1st admission into the hospital. The first group was first admitted in 1975 before major deinstitutionalization in the area of Victoria, the second group in 1985 when community care was becoming the more common practice. Each of the patients was matched to a control, by age, sex, and place of residence, so as to allot for changing patterns of offending over time in the community at large. In comparison to the controls, those with schizophrenia were significantly more likely to be convicted at least once for all categories of criminal offending except for sexual offenses. Those individuals amongst the schizophrenic group that abused substances would account for a disproportionate amount of the convicted individuals. The study would conclude that the increased rate of criminal conviction of those with schizophrenia over the past twenty

years correlates with a reduction in institutionalization and rise in community care. However, deinstitutionalization does not fully account for such change. As a result of this it is recommended that mental health services should focus upon reducing the increased rates of criminal offending within schizophrenic patients. (Mullen et. al., 2000) To best address an issue with a complex cause, targeting the behavior is in the least a strategy that deals with tangible elements of the problem. V Psychopathy (PL-R) as a Predictor of Violent Recidivism Among Criminal Offenders with Schizophrenia This particular article would assert the hypothesis that the level of psychopathy of the schizophrenic violent offender has a direct correlation with violent recidivism. Through the application of Hares Psychopathy Checklist-Revised the study would ultimately go about proving this hypothesis. (Tengstrom et. al., 2000) This particular assertion is interesting in that it is based upon a theoretical model, and as such worthy of further exploration in the forthcoming section. It is important when considering the level of psychopathy of an offender to likewise take into account how schizophrenic symptoms may overlap with the assessment measures employed. VI In Search of Madness: Schizophrenia and Neuroscience This academic exploration of the subject as to how schizophrenia and neuroscience relate is both comprehensive and quite enlightening. He explores the topic of schizophrenia from a variety of disciplines, including those of psychology and also neuroscience. (Heinrichs, 2001) As will be explored, this book offers up valuable information regarding theoretical models related to the understanding of how schizophrenia translates into behavior, whether criminal or otherwise.

VII Neuroscience and Legal Determination of Criminal Responsibility This particular article explores the relationship between criminal culpability and the realities of neuroscience. Some neurological conditions such as schizophrenia have the potential to influence criminal behavior, and as a result of this, the guilt of those with such conditions is drawn into question given the fact that they are unable to control their biological abnormalities. Much research has been explored in this regard, in that the destructive and oftentimes criminal behavior of schizophrenics may be indicative of a need for treatment more so than incarceration. However, benchmarks must be established to clearly be able to determine culpability across the widely varying cases faced by the court system. VIII Neuroscience and Criminal Justice: Not Responsibility but Treatment This particular article considers the biological and physiological origins of some conditions that influence criminal behavior, such as schizophrenia. It is advanced that as neuroscience advances, so must criminal justice and the definition of criminal culpability. Advances in science in this regard must be reflected in criminal justice, as while developments of forensic science for example have radically altered the way in which the criminal justice system is attended to, similar leaps and bounds made within the realms of psychology and neuroscience are not paralleled by a similar significant shift in the way in which these topics are capitalized upon within the court of law. IX The Criminal Careers of Incident Cases of Schizophrenia This particular article presents a longitudinal study of all incident cases of schizophrenia in the London Borough of Camberwell between 1964 and 1984, with cases being selected from the Camberwell Cumulative Psychiatric Case Register. Throughout the duration of

the study, both men, and for a novel approach, women, were considered in relation to their criminal activity. The rate of conviction for women with schizophrenia was significantly higher compared to other mental disorders. The rate ratio for violent offenses in the men with schizophrenia considered was three in eight. This confirmed earlier studies based in Sweden, in that individuals with schizophrenia were more likely to acquire a criminal record than those with other mental disorders. X Criminal Law as it Pertains to Mentally Incompetent Defendants: A McNaughton Rule in Light of Cognitive Neuroscience This particular article is interesting in that it explores the basis upon which modern criminal culpability is based in New Zealand. The McNaughton rules for determining the grounds upon which mental incompetence may be based was established by a committee of the House of Lords in 183. It arose from the killing of the secretary to the prime minister at the time by Daniel McNaughton, whose symptoms were those of a schizophrenic, although the condition hadnt been clarified at the time. Two elements in particular of this defense were the power of self-control, and irresistible impulse. The development of modern cognitive neuroscience requires that these grounds be reconsidered, in that a failure to exercise appropriate restraint may be related to a failure of synapses in particular parts of the brain. Given the reality of such physiological influences behind crime, it is the task of modern cognitive neuroscience to establish what level of synaptic loss would be necessary with the legislature and the courts to rule as sufficient for a subject to be considered no loner responsible for their lack of restraint in their criminal activities. II Theoretical Models Cognitive Neuropsychology

This particular theoretical model has been capitalized upon in pursuit of a better understanding of schizophrenia. The internal filter concept has been adapted to this topic, with this concept arguing that a great deal of information processing never has the change to reach consciousness. This is due to such information essentially being edited from reaching consciousness as a result of inappropriateness, irrelevance, implausibility, and inaccuracy. This process of selective editing is purported to be disrupted in schizophrenic patients. The schizophrenic patient due to this lack of filtering is made aware of multiple meanings of events, contradictory meanings, symbolic association, and preliminary interferences that would in ordinary cases be suppressed. (Heinrichs, 2001) In light of this theoretical perspective, the criminal behavior of schizophrenics could be as a result of their inability to suppress those ideas that are inappropriate and otherwise unacceptable within the general confines of society. Such a theoretical model would account for both aberrant behavior as well as criminal, in that the filters generally in place to help influence such activities to not participate in are not present, thereby in a sense encouraging them. Psychopathological Theory Within the population of schizophrenic patients who have committed crimes, a consideration of their psychopathology is an effective theoretical means through which to quantify their adverse behavior. Through the use of Hares Psychopathy Checklist-Revised, the hypothesis that psychopathy predicts violent recidivism within male violent offenders with schizophrenia was tested. The ultimate results of the study would reveal that psychopathy was strongly associated with violent recidivism. The base rate for those individuals that would test above the cutoff for psychopathy, some 22%, would again be convicted for violent crimes 21% of the time. The study would ultimately assert that of the

many potential risk factors for violent recidivism amongst violent offenders with schizophrenia, that of psychopathy was the best explanation for violent recidivism. (Tengstom et. al., 2000) The study would exhibit a powerful correlation between the psychopathology of the patient and their likelihood of participating in criminal actions. Brain Scanning and Physiological Theory There are a number of influences behind aberrant and criminal behavior, whether the subject is schizophrenic or not. Such behaviors may be attributed to the theoretical model of behaviorism, in that such activities are learned activities that ultimately turn to behaviors, or they may have a root in anatomy and physiology of a neuroscientific foundation. (Heinrichs, 2001) The behavior of individuals with schizophrenia is oftentimes abnormal in a variety of ways, with this abnormal behavior not necessarily being criminal in nature. Regardless, the expression of schizophrenia, even when not criminal, is oftentimes nonetheless antisocial, thereby damaging the capacity of the afflicted to live a normal life and have healthy social interactions. One individual assessed by the name of William had been charged with both aberrant behavior as well as criminal activity. The individual under question would begin defecating within his apartment, experiencing a break with reality in which he developed a godcomplex. During this time he would likewise increase participation in the criminal activities of illegal drug use and acquisition. Upon having been diagnosed with schizophrenia, a computerized tomography, a CT, was performed. The scan would ultimately prove to be normal, as would most of his neurological examination. However, the examination would probe deeper, ultimately revealing that William suffered from abnormal reflexes on both sides of his body, an implication of atrophy within the frontal

brain areas. Upon further testing an electroencephalography, EEG, test would suggest possible epilepsy with a seizure focus in the right cerebral hemisphere. (Heinrichs, 2001) A clear physical difference in those afflicted has been noted, bringing into question the involvement of personal choice in the criminality of schizophrenic patients. The culpability of criminals suffering from disorders such as schizophrenia has been brought into question recently, in that should criminality be biologically based, then guilt is questionable, with mandatory supervision or even incarceration potentially being the only means of avoiding recidivism. (Eastman & Campbell, 2006) In 1949 it the winner of the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, Egas Moniz, would advance that the frontal leucotomy was one of the most important discoveries ever made in psychiatric therapy with this method being proposed as a means of rehabilitating those from conditions such as schizophrenia, enabling them to recover and function effectively in the social environment. (Greely, 2007-2008) This particular approach is more physiological than theoretical, in that the behavior attributed to this schizophrenic patient is theorized to be based upon a physiological characteristic of his brain. While neuroscience may largely account for such issues, simple anatomy at times is sufficient to explain some maladies. Personality Theory A means of better understanding the implications of schizophrenia upon an individuals behavior is through the lens of personality theory. Within the realm of neuropsychology a number of theorists have attempted to link psychological characteristics with personality traits. Such studies have been focused upon shedding light upon human psychopathology, in that there is a clear underling link between personality and psychopathology. Within the confines of this particular theory, a better understanding of schizophrenia may be gained

through relating personality and psychopathology. (Pickering & Gray, n.d.) Each individual case of schizophrenia is unique and different, with a consideration of this particular theory helping to frame the symptoms expressed across a variety of cases and patients. A means of accomplishing this is through the study of schizophrenic deficits through a consideration of schizotypal personality trait variations within healthy subjects. Some of the traits of the schizophrenic may be present within the healthy population to some degree, with a measurement thereof helping to quantify the severity of the problem within the schizophrenic patient. (Pickering & Gray, n.d.) Personality theory is useful in that it provides a baseline from which to consider the behavior of schizophrenic patients. The activities of normal individuals provide valuable points of comparison for those suffering from mental conditions, particularly those as detrimental to normal behavior as schizophrenia. By better understanding the degree to which symptoms vary from the baseline is useful in better determining the responsibility and potential guilt of those participating in illegal activities and also in possession of mental disorders. Cognitive Neuroscience This particular theoretical framework is useful in a consideration of criminality in schizophrenic patients in that it takes into account both behavior and physiology, however is not so mind-centered as cognitive neuropsychology. This particular framework advances that neurological evidence could be used to help courts assess the criminality of those being processed. It would first be necessary however to clearly define the legal criteria for criminal responsibility and upon having done so to determine how neurological findings could be applied to determine whether particular defendants meet the criteria established.

Cognitive neuroscience has the capacity to address two well-established conditions of criminal responsibility, those of intention and sanity. Through the use of functional neuroimaging studies in motor planning, awareness of actions, agency, social contract reasoning, theory of mind, and other areas, a small assortment of brain networks have been targeted that are thought to be instrumental to determining these two elements of guilt. As neuroscience advances specificity is expected to become apparent when considering the problems related to the application of neuroscience to criminal law. (Aharoni et. al., 2008) The theoretical model of cognitive neuroscience provides a valuable window through which to view criminal culpability for those individuals for whom such behavior is based upon biology and physiology.

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