Caractérisation sociodémographique, clinique et criminologique d’une population de 210 meurtriers

Abstract

Introduction After a saturated media coverage of some murders, questions were raised about the mentally ill and their dangerous and violent nature which may sometimes culminate in homicide. The popular idea that someone who kills an unknown person in the street is mentally ill is firmly rooted in the collective consciousness. Yet, epidemiological data are reassuring: only 15% of such murders are committed by the seriously mentally ill (schizophrenia, paranoia, melancholia). Aim To describe the sociodemographic, clinical and forensic characteristics of a convicted population of 210 murderers. Method Consecutive series of cases of people convicted of murder in Angers between 1975 and 2005. Information on sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of perpetrators of homicide was collected from psychiatric reports prepared for the courts. This retrospective study identifies several types of pathological murders (schizophrenia, paranoiac delirious disorder, affective disorder: melancholia and hypomania, drugs abuses, personality disorders). Results The murderers were men whose mean age was 33. Most were single, living alone and jobless. Two thirds of them had psychiatric records and one third a record of violence against persons. There were 14 cases of schizophrenia (6.7%), eight cases of persistent delusional disorder, 15 cases of affective disorder, 11 cases of mental disorder, five cases of neurological symptomatology, 44 cases of personality disorder and 35 cases of alcohol abuse or alcohol dependency disorder. A third of the murderers did not have any kind of mental disorder ( n = 73). Fifty-two (24%) were mentally ill. Two thirds had a history of mental illness and one third had a record of previous convictions of violence. Crimes were mostly committed at nighttime and in the house of the victim. The most common method of killing was stabbing. Fourteen percent had symptoms of mental illness at the time of the offence. The 217 victims were, in decreasing order, a family member, a current or former spouse/partner (53%), an acquaintance (30%) or a stranger (17%). The forensic and juridical consequences (via the application of former article 64 or the present article 122-1 of the French Criminal Code) were envisaged in less than 10% of the cases. Conclusions These data allowed the authors to determine the general risk factors of homicidal violence (male gender, youth and alcohol abuse) as well as some more specific factors (mental illness, comorbidities…). The dynamic characteristics of the meeting of the crime protagonists should be added to these factors.